We’re pleased to announce that PETA Science Consortium International e.V. has been shortlisted for the prestigious Lush Prize in Science! The Science Consortium nabbed a spot on the 2024 shortlist for its work to replace the use of animals in tests that assess how chemicals affect human lungs.
The Lush Prize in Science, which is open to submissions worldwide, awards the most promising projects that will lead to the acceptance of non-animal testing methods by regulatory agencies.
The Science Consortium is in good company—also making the shortlist this year are candidates from Taiwan, Japan, Portugal, the U.K., Poland, and the U.S., including the U.S.-based company Emulate for its work developing a human liver-chip model and a U.S. collaboration developing a non-animal model for predicting developmental toxicity.
PETA scientists have been working for years to develop and promote non-animal methods that better predict what happens when humans inhale chemicals.
This approach avoids tests in which animals, often rats, are confined to small tubes and forced to inhale toxic chemicals.
Last year, PETA scientists coauthored a breakthrough study—funded in part by the Science Consortium—showing that frozen human lung slices work as well as fresh ones to assess the toxicity of inhaled chemicals, expanding the availability of these tissues for research instead of testing on animals.
Other papers they coauthored demonstrate how non-animal, cell-based methods can be used to predict the health effects of inhaled chemicals.
The Science Consortium also awards researchers tissues and equipment and helped fund the development of a first-of-its-kind 3-D model of the lower respiratory tract. An advisor to the Science Consortium has been shortlisted for the 2024 Lush Young Researcher Prize for the work she plans to do to increase scientific confidence in non-animal models such as these, which is key to gaining their acceptance by regulators.
The 2024 Lush Prize winners will be announced in May.
With Your Support, PETA Scientists Help Spare Animals From Chemical Tests
For more than 10 years, the Science Consortium has collaborated with government agencies, contract research organizations, and companies to replace tests on animals with scientifically sound, non-animal methods. The group has also published groundbreaking scientific papers, organized webinars and conferences, and more.
You can support the Science Consortium’s crucial work with a generous donation:
