Resources & Archives NEAVS Funds Eye-opening Research at IIVS (Spring 2000) — The Institute for In Vitro Science (IIVS) has one of the country's most impressive track records for providing industry and government with reliable testing methods which do not use animals. However, IIVS still had to resort to using eyes from slaughtered cows for some of its research. Last year, NEAVS began funding IIVS' endeavors to find a completely non-animal eye research model, and now it appears that there may indeed be "a better way" on the horizon. In a December 10 article, "Growing Human Corneas in the Lab," Science magazine reported how cell biologists, using lines of cultured human cornea cells, engineered a synthetic human cornea (the clear, tough tissue that admits light and protects the eye). Synthetic corneas are potential good news for doctors and patients seeking replacements for aging or injured eyes; for scientists and manufacturers looking for reliable models to test eye irritation and chemical safety; and for thousands of rabbits who are the current test subjects of choice. While the engineered corneas aren't ready for human transplant anytime soon, toxicologists - scientists who test for harmful substances - are already eyeing use of the corneas in safety and irritation tests. "We are hopeful that instead of testing irritation by pouring toxic substances in rabbits' eyes - long the standard in scientific, cosmetic and product testing - industry can use the synthetic cornea as a reliable stand-in," said Rodger Curren, PhD, head of the IIVS in Maryland. Manufacturing giants Procter & Gamble and Unilever recently joined with the Institute to determine if the synthetic corneas react to toxic irritating materials in the same way as the human eye. Rabbits' eyes are only somewhat like a human's. The end points of the toxicity tests (measures such as cloudiness and redness) are subject to interpretation by technicians and are, therefore, not exact, according to Curren. Synthetic corneas would spare animals from the hideous cruelty involved in toxicity testing and provide scientists with a more accurate, precise and reproducible test model, he said. Back to UPDATE 2000 Series, Vol. 1, No. 1 Spring mainpage.