Skin irritants and allergenic chemicals are currently still required to be tested using the murine local lymph node assay. This involves sensitising mice by injecting small amounts of the substance and then taking blood samples from the mice’s ears after repeated exposure in order to investigate the immune response.

Efforts are being made to completely replace animal testing. Since a single test cannot simulate the entire mechanism, several tests are to be combined in an integrated test strategy (ITS) to answer the necessary questions.

One such test strategy is currently being evaluated by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM).

Dr. Basketter is a member of many European expert groups, and in groups of the WHO and the OECD. He chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) of the ECVAM, which ultimately issues recommendations on the applicability of methods for replacing animal experiments.

More about ESAC:
http://ihcp.jrc.ec.europa.eu/