Labanimal

The November episode of 3 Minute 3rs, brought to you by the NC3Rs (www.nc3rs.org.uk), the North American 3Rs Collaborative (www.na3rsc.org), and Lab Animal (www.nature.com/laban). Papers: 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6662399/ 2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5371849/ 3. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/LC/C9LC00160C [NA3RsC] Evaluation of developmental and reproductive toxicity is a key aspect of drug development. Each year, 5-7% of newborns worldwide are born with serious birth defects, a number correlated to increased use of pharmaceutical drugs for managing health conditions. Reproductive toxicology studies account for roughly 90% of all animal use in toxicological safety assessment. The FDA requires that these animal studies be performed in two species, often rodents and rabbits. The embryonic stem cell test (EST) is an alternative in vitro assay that does not require the use of pregnant animals but is not yet powerful enough to provide a complete al