Winners from the University of Cambridge, Utrecht University and a Milan Research Institute were all using computer databases to successfully predict the toxicity of chemicals for humans.
The MIE Atlas Team, headed by Dr Timothy Allen (pictured), is a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and Unilever’s Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre. He said: “Scientific excellence is key in everything we do. Animal experiments are no way to learn about the impacts of chemicals on human biology, as they differ biologically. Non-animal methods with a mechanistic toxicology focus can answer these questions in a scientifically superior way.”
The team has been building computational models based on chemistry to predict human Molecular Initiating Events – MIEs - since 2013. These models predict in-silico how chemicals can have effects that may lead to Adverse Outcome Pathways - AOPs.
MIEs are the initial interaction between a molecule and a biomolecule or biosystem that can be causally linked to an outcome via a pathway.
Dr Timothy Allen joined the project as the first MIE Atlas project PhD student in January 2013 as a fresh-faced research student just out of undergraduate. He wanted to work in research to learn new skills and develop his abilities, and to help answer big and challenging questions in chemistry. The project delivered new and exciting opportunities in toxicology, biology, statistics, informatics and computer science, and the ability to work with and learn from incredibly talented researchers from around the world.
“While scientific excellence drives alternatives to animal testing, the moral argument that animal experimentation is wrong helps turn this drive into a passion. New methodologies are needed to allow for this transition, and it’s great to think that the scientific work you are doing is not only applicable in real-world scenarios but is also helping to drive that science in the correct moral direction,” commented Dr Allen.
The winners receive their awards at an online ceremony today (11 November), which also features poetry, dancing, animation and sculpture. The ceremony follows an online conference exploring the question ‘Can big data replace animal testing?’ that will hear from scientists, campaigners and regulators around the world.
The conference panel sessions will be recorded and can be viewed online, and the awards, livestreamed at 4.00pm GMT on 11 November, will also be archived as a recording on the Lush Prize website.
The three computational winners were:
The MIE Atlas Team
University of Cambridge/Unilever, UK
In Silico Models to Predict Human Molecular Initiating Events
Edoardo Carnesecchi
Utrecht University, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) Netherlands
An innovative software platform to assess chemical mixtures toxicity and exposure
Domenico Gadaleta
Computational Toxicology Unit - Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research , Italy
Screening Based on Structure-Activity Relationships Predicting Molecular Initiating Events of
Neurotoxicity
More details of this year's prize winners, including short videos, can be found on the website at
https://lushprize.org
Lush Prize was founded in 2012 in the UK with a goal of helping to bring forward the date when no further product safety testing on animals was required. It is a collaboration between the campaigning cosmetics company Lush and the campaigning research group Ethical Consumer.
The £250,000 prize fund is the biggest prize in the non-animal testing sector, and is the only award to focus solely on the complete replacement of animal tests. It its now in its eighth prize cycle.