About worms, NAMs and DART studies at WC12 in Niagara Falls
What a second, NAMs in DART studies? WC12? A bit too much acronyms here. Let’s fix that. NAMs refers to New Approach Methodologies or, using official words:
“NAMs refer to any technologies, methodologies, approaches, or combinations thereof that can be used to provide information on chemical hazard and potential human exposure that can avoid or significantly reduce the use of testing on animals.” – US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Summing up, any method or technology that allows the reduction of animal testing and still provides significant and relevant data for potential adverse effects of substances. Let’s move to the other one: DART or Development And Reproductive Toxicology studies. In order to market any substance/compound, a toxicology assessment has to be done to ensure the safety of humans, animals and the environment. Hence, is the study of adverse effects of substances affecting the normal development or reproductive capabilities of species.
And this is all for today’s blog
Of course not! All this introduction was not done for nothing. The 12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences (WC12) is approaching and we have amazing news! Held in the stunning backdrop of Niagara Falls (Canada), the event will bring together experts from all around the world to discuss groundbreaking developments in new approaches, methods, and technologies that propel the 3Rs Principle of Reduce, Refine, Replace animal testing.
And why did we bother you about NAMs and DARTs? Because our CSO and co-founder Laurent Mouchiroud will be presenting our NAMs technology for DART studies during the “21st Century Predictive Toxicology” session. Under the umbrella-theme “New Approach Methodologies for Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity Testing”, Laurent will give a presentation about the “Robotic device for fully automated high-content screening on C. elegans as a novel platform for chemical toxicity assessment”.
Let’s give you two spoilers: (1) the robotic platform is called SydLab™ One and you can ask him why if you happen to cross him at WC12 (we promise it’s a cool name background), (2) we’ve got a quick glimpse at the data that he will present and it’s truly fascinating.
Fancy a sneak peek? We brought you a short interview to enlighten your curiosity:
Laurent Mouchiroud, phd: About worms, NAMs and DART studies at WC12
Hello Laurent, thank you for giving us a couple of thoughts about your participation at WC12 in Niagara Falls. Let’s cut to the chase, can you briefly explain the focus of your talk at WC12?
Hello! Certainly. My talk revolves around introducing the organism model C. elegans and its suitability for chemical toxicity assessment. We developed a laboratory platform that is able to exploit the whole potential of C. elegans for high-content screening of substances by automatizing the entire experimentation and results collection process. I am thrilled to show the great results collected by our platform at WC12, proposing it as a novel NAMs for DART studies.
Fascinating! Let’s not spoil your talk anymore. Remind us, which day and time will it take place?
It’s Monday, August 28th, Session #450 at 14:00 (GMT-4). See you there and do not hesitate to come and have a chat with me afterwards!
Thank you Laurent. To conclude this short interview, what do you expect from WC12 and what are you most excited about?
Thank you for having me. I’m truly looking forward to WC12 and the opportunity it presents to connect with fellow scientists and regulators working for alternatives to animal testing and animal welfare. Conferences like these are invaluable platforms for engaging in meaningful discussions, sharing insights, and learning about the latest advancements, needs, and trends in predictive toxicology. I’m excited to be a part of a community that is driving innovation towards more ethical and efficient testing methods, and sharing the technology we developed at Nagi is an amazing milestone for us. My main goal is to immerse myself in the discussions, gain fresh perspectives, and contribute to the collective effort of advancing science. It’s these interactions and collaborations that truly inspire progress, and I’m eager to be a part of that energy at WC12.
Interested in knowing more? Have a chat with Laurent at WC12
