Computational Nanotoxicology
The rapid development of new technologies (e.g., nanotechnology) and innovations in the application of existing technologies (e.g., biotechnologies) has resulted in an ever-growing regulatory demand for advancing the use of non-animal toxicity tests and testing strategies. The term non-animal testing in the context of hazard assessment refers to the use of human cells/tissues (in vitro) and computer-modelling (in silico) methods as alternatives to animal testing (in vivo). Although there is a profound interest among policy-makers and the scientific community to move from animal-based individual toxicity assessments toward a more integrated hazard screening approach, the lack of practical guidance on the harmonized use of non-animal testing methods in regulatory context has resulted in low regulatory and industrial acceptance. The key to the successful uptake of alternative methods by regulators is to transparently demonstrate the reliability and relevance of their outcomes for regulatory hazard screening and assessment purposes.
BioNanoLab is focused on the hypothesis that the current understanding on the potential health risks of advanced bio- and nanomaterials (BNMs) needs to expand beyond traditional risk assessment that primarily relies on animal-testing, to include faster and cheaper non-animal alternatives that can provide mechanistic insights about the particular characteristics of BNMs responsible for adverse health effects, hence, we bring together multiple disciplines including computer science to develop risk reduction strategies for BNMs that are commonly used in medical applications. This inter-disciplinary concept will enable a more productive approach to integrating safety into the design process of manufactured BNMs, and will contribute to the safe and sustainable development of bio/nano-technologies.
BioNanoLab aims to assess the potential toxicity behaviour of BNMs by leveraging the computer-modelling strategies and provide an alternative insight to the existing risk assessment methodologies such as animal-testing.
