This is scientific American's 60 Second Science. I'm Debokee Chuck Rovarti.

Chemists come up with new substances every year to go in everything from makeup to medicines.

But introducing these chemicals into products

also raises questions about their potential dangers.

Can they irritate the skin, the eyes,

could they damage DNA?

To identify these possible risks, companies often test chemicals on animals.

But these trials are expensive and time consuming,

and the results aren't always reliable.

Plus, many consumers are uncomfortable with their favorite products being tested on animals like mice,

rabbits, and guinea pigs.

But we may be able to avoid animal tests. mice, rabbits, and guinea pigs.

But we may be able to avoid animal tests without sacrificing the ability to forecast problems,

because researchers have developed a computer program that can predict the toxic effects of new chemicals better than animal

testing can.

The method relies on a database that the scientist created that includes the results of

more than 800,000 animal tests

documented in various toxicology registries,

covering about 10,000 chemicals.

Such databases make it possible for an expert to anticipate the dangers of an untested chemical

by comparing it to similar chemicals.

This process is called Reed Across, and it is the main alternative to animal testing.

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