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■有外國公司現正研究新科技，改以人造皮膚代替動物，進行化妝品的敏感反應測試。資料圖片
化妝品生產商一向利用動物測試產品的敏感反應，然而爭議甚多。有公司正研究新技術免去動物測試，明年或可正式應用。
化妝品生產商歐萊雅資助Hurel公司在實驗室培育人造皮膚，模擬人類皮膚對外來化學物的過敏反應，免卻使用實驗鼠和天竺鼠。初步試驗成效甚佳，但仍要嚴格測試其準確程度。
現時標準的敏感反應測試會將化學物塗上老鼠的耳朵，然後把牠殺死，再作解剖研究。
Hurel公司在玻璃晶片上放上人類皮膚細胞，只要將外來化學物滴到晶片上，晶片即可模擬人體的免疫系統，作出自然的敏感反應。歐洲監管當局已下令化妝品生產商2013年前要停用動物測試。
歐萊雅這些年來已逐漸減少採用動物測試，但仍有用這方法測試某些新的化學物。
責任醫療醫生委員會的醫生桑杜斯基表示：「歐萊雅願意探索這方面的機會，我對此感到欣慰，因為首次看到不用動物也可模擬出免疫系統。」
環保委員會的前毒物學家桑杜斯基估計，如果Hurel公司成功應用有關科技，每年將減少數以萬計的動物測試。
動物測試需時甚長，很多研究員都質疑在動物身上作出化學物測試，是否真能得出人類的反應。
Hurel總裁弗里德曼希望減少動物測試的時間、金錢和潛在的不準確性，開發一種約需10億美元(約78億港元)研發成本的新藥，估計可為Hurel減少1億美元(7.8億港元)支出。
■綜合外電消息
■資深翻譯員 羅國偉
Technology Aims to Replace Animal Testing
Technology allowing cosmetic makers to test for allergic reactions to their products without controversial animal trials is in the works and could be in use by next year.
The technology developed by Hurel Corp., with funding from cosmetics maker L'Oreal, is designed to replace tests on mice and guinea pigs used to predict skin reactions from drugs and cosmetics.
The device uses laboratory-grown human skin cells to simulate the body's allergic response to foreign chemicals. Preliminary experiments show promise, but rigorous tests are still needed to determine the technology's accuracy.
The standard method for testing allergic reactions involves applying chemicals to the ears of mice, which are later killed and dissected for study.
The product from Hurel consists of a glass chip with human skin cells and chemicals that simulate the body's immune system. When a foreign substance is dropped onto the chip, the cells and chemicals interact to mimic the human body's natural allergic response. Regulators there have ordered companies to phase out animal skin testing by 2013.
L'Oreal has decreased its use of animal testing over the years, but still relies on the technique to test certain new chemicals.
"I give L'Oreal credit for being willing to explore these types of opportunities," said Dr. Charles Sandusky, of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "This is the first thing I've ever seen where the immune system is being mimicked without using an animal component."
Sandusky, a former toxicologist at the Environmental Protection Agency, estimates Hurel's technology, if successfully applied, could eliminate the need for tens of thousands of test animals each year.
Animal testing can be slow, and many researchers question how well an animal's response to a chemical predicts human reactions.
By eliminating the time, money and potential inaccuracies associated with animal testing, Chief Executive Robert Freedman estimates Hurel's test could shave $100 million off the roughly $1 billion cost of developing a new drug. ■AP
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