The application of whole-embryo culture to new product development

Whole-embryo culture is employed routinely in our laboratories as one aspect in the early toxicity screening of new compounds. More than 150 experimental compounds have been examined to date, in addition to a number of known teratogenic agents. The rationale and study design are discussed and results are presented for cyclophosphamide, retinoic acid, lithium, thalidomide and mercury, all of which demonstrate good correlation between effects in vitro and those reported in vivo. The system has proved to be a rapid, cost-effective screen with marked economies in the numbers of animals, amount of compound and time required; as yet, no false positive or false negative results have been observed. It is considered, therefore, that taken in conjunction with other aspects of biological activity, the results from embryo-culture studies can make a valuable contribution to the selection process of new product development.