Lynn L. Bergeson, “Toxicity Testing Moves Ahead,” Chemical Processing, September 2010.

Who would have thought that an automated laboratory working around the clock could screen chemical substances for interactions with biological targets at speeds mere mortals could hardly consider — let alone match? Well, this is exactly what is occurring today thanks to a collaborative effort known as “Tox21” among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Toxicology Program (NTP), and the National Institute of Health Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC). Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) joined the initiative. This column describes this ground-breaking partnership.