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''In vitro'' toxicity testing is the scientific analysis of the effects of toxic chemical substances on cultured bacteria or mammalian cells. ''In vitro'' (literally 'in glass') testing methods are employed primarily to identify potentially hazardous chemicals and/or to confirm the lack of certain toxic properties in the early stages of the development of potentially useful new substances such as therapeutic drugs, agricultural chemicals and food additives. ''In vitro'' assays for xenobiotic toxicity are recently carefully considered by key government agencies (e.g. EPA; NIEHS/NTP; FDA), to better assess human risks. There are substantial activities in using in vitro systems to advance mechanistic understanding of toxicant activities, and the use of human cells and tissue to define human-specific toxic effects.〔 〕 ==Improvement over animal testing== Most toxicologists believe that ''in vitro'' toxicity testing methods can be more useful, more time and cost-effective than toxicology studies in living animals (which are termed ''in vivo'' or "in life" methods). However, the extrapolation from ''in vitro'' to ''in vivo'' requires some careful consideration and is an active research area. Due to regulatory constraints and ethical considerations, the quest for alternatives to animal testing has gained a new momentum. In many cases the in vitro tests are better than animal tests because they can be used to develop safer products.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「In vitro toxicology」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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