Liver-like cell screen could offer better carcinogen safety tests for new chemicals

Very recommendable!

"... lab is now working on further validating the test, which makes use of human liver-like cells that metabolize chemicals very similarly to real human liver cells and produce a distinctive signal when DNA damage occurs."

"Human liver cells are notoriously difficult to grow outside the body, but the MIT team was able to incorporate a type of liver-like cell called HepaRG, developed by a company in France, into the new test. These cells produce many of the same metabolic enzymes found in normal human liver cells, and like human liver cells, they can generate potentially harmful intermediates that create bulky lesions. "

"“A lot of chemicals actually are inert until they get metabolized by the liver,” ... “In the liver you have a lot of metabolizing enzymes, which modify the chemicals so that they become more easily excreted by the body. But this process sometimes produces intermediates that can turn out to be more toxic than the original chemical.”"


"Currently, tests for the cancer-causing potential of chemicals involve exposing mice to the chemical and then waiting to see whether they develop cancer, which takes about two years."

"Bevin Engelward, a professor of biological engineering at MIT and the senior author of the study. “It can take decades between the time you’re exposed to a carcinogen and the time you get cancer, so we really need predictive tests. We need to prevent cancer in the first place.”"

This is an odd or rather absurd statement coming from this professor. How can you prove after several decades that the cancer was caused by perhaps an only one time exposure to a carcinogen?

"It’s estimated that there are approximately 80,000 industrial chemicals currently in use, in products such as clothing, cleaning solutions, carpets, and furniture. For the vast majority of these chemicals, scientists have little or no information about their potential to cause cancer."

The article does not fail to reiterate what has been known for decades. Scaremongering & demagoguery that is good for attracting funding.

Screen could offer better safety tests for new chemicals | MIT News: MIT biological engineers have come up with a new screening method that can test new chemicals for their cancer-causing potential much faster than existing methods.