Linking cell-population to whole-fish growth
— Before new chemicals can be approved, environmental risk assessments have to be carried out. But conventional toxicity testing with live fish is costly and time-consuming, and new substances continue to be produced without being adequately assessed. A novel approach – avoiding the need for experiments with juvenile fish – has now been demonstrated by an Eawag-led research team: the growth of cultured gill cells, combined with modelling, can be used to predict the growth of whole organisms.