Imagine trying to predict if a new material is harmful by waiting years for a slow, expensive animal test. Instead of waiting for the final damage to appear, this project looks for the very first 'warning signs' in cells using high-tech cameras and computer models. It's like spotting a tiny spark before a house catches fire, allowing companies to know if a material is safe much faster.
Current animal-based safety testing for nanomaterials is too slow and expensive. This delay prevents companies from launching new materials and makes regulatory compliance a bottleneck.
A suite of in vitro systems, high-resolution time-lapse microscopy tools, and proprietary in silico algorithms to predict long-term health outcomes of inhaled materials.
If you are an e-waste recycler dealing with hazardous nanoplastics and dust — this project developed in silico prediction models that identify lung toxicity and neurodegeneration risks. This allows for safer handling and disposal protocols without relying on slow animal testing.
If you are a manufacturer dealing with new nano-coatings for walls — this project developed a testing protocol validated with 40+ benchmark materials. This helps you prove the safety of your products to regulators more cheaply and quickly.
If you are a developer dealing with inhaled medical nanomaterials — this project developed animal-free predictions for adverse outcomes like cancer and chronic inflammation. This reduces the cost and time needed to clear regulatory hurdles.
Based on available project data, it replaces slow and expensive animal-based testing with high-throughput in vitro systems and in silico models. This shift to early key event detection enables more cost-efficient screening for industry.
The project is validating its predictions using real-life materials from 5 diverse industrial cases, including construction and electronics waste, to ensure they work in industrial settings.
The project utilizes proprietary in silico algorithms for the automated identification of modes of action. Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not provided.
The consortium aims to propose the developed reliable testing protocols and guidelines to the OECD and ECVAM to facilitate regulatory adoption.
The project period runs from 2023-01-01 to 2026-12-31, with current work focusing on identifying bridging events and tuning image analysis algorithms.
The consortium is research-heavy with 4 research institutes and 2 universities, but maintains a 22% industry ratio. With 9 partners across 7 countries, it bridges the gap between academic discovery and market application by including an SME as a technology provider and a material producing company as an end-user.
Contact Institut Jozef Stefan in Slovenia
Contact us to connect with the nanoPASS consortium for early access to animal-free safety protocols.
