By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY:

Three agencies — the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Toxicology Program and the National Institutes of Health — have signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” to develop and implement the new methods. The collaboration is described in today’s edition of the journal Science.

The agreement is a “milestone” says Martin Stephens of the Humane Society of the United States. “We believe this is the beginning of the end for animal testing. We think the (conversion) process will take about 10 years.”

The agencies acknowledge that full implementation of the shift in toxicity testing could take years because it will require scientific validation of the new approaches.

The Humane Society and other activist groups have long protested the use of animals to test the safety of chemicals, particularly those used in cosmetics and other personal products. The agencies noted that the public’s “unease” with animal testing, in addition to a growing number of new chemicals and high testing costs, fueled the new collaboration.

By Mike Groll, AP

Professor Jonathan Dordick holds a biochip designed to mimic human reactions to potentially toxic compounds. The chip holds hundreds of tiny white dots loaded with human cell cultures and enzymes. Scientists hope the chips can do away with the need to use animals to test new blockbuster drugs or wrinkle creams.

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