DoseFinder:
Manual Toxicity Investigation
Fast, sensitive detection of acute and chronic effects for health, development and reproduction
C. elegans as a toxicity testing model
C. elegans is a well-characterised, ethical model for toxicity testing with diverse applications in drug development, compound and environmental fields, with human translatability.
Our toxicity assays and testing advantage
C. elegans, combined with our WormGazer™ technology and CRO expertise, offers many benefits over rodent models, including reduced timeframes and costs, no regulatory requirements, and significantly streamlined study designs. Our approach enables you to eliminate unsuccessful candidates at an early stage of your product development pipeline.
Our advantage for toxicity testing:
- Reduced timeframes, costs and regulatory requirements
- An ethical alternative model for toxicity testing compared to more sentient mammals
- Standardised, population-scale acute and chronic testing for mutation and compound effects on healthspan
- Rapid, sensitive and scalable data-acquisition in DART assays with WormGazer™ technology and progeny number
- Streamlined study designs with multidisciplinary expert input
- Invaluable prescreen to eliminate compounds for toxicity and prioritise product pipeline
- An established track record of relevance to many human diseases like neurodegeneration, cancer, and metabolism
Transferable data
C. elegans serve as a versatile model for studying diseases due to its conserved genetic pathway. This makes C. elegans a biologically relevant and efficient model for toxicity studies, providing valuable insights into the potential effects of chemicals on human health and development.

Multi-faceted healthspan assays
We are able to generate rich data using extensive healthspan assays, rather than simply measuring lifespan (live/dead endpoints). Examples of relevant outputs include chronic effects on ageing, mobility, behaviour, development and reproduction.
Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity (DART) assays
Our Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity (DART) assays take advantage of the 300 progeny produced by each healthy adult worm in 3 days. This, combined with the scalable data acquisition from WormGazer™ technology ensures fast, sensitive detection of toxicity in large-scale populations for both acute and chronic toxicity.
We can help you effectively prescreen and prioritise your product pipeline eliminating compounds for toxicity at an early stage.
Toxicity Study Types:
DART assay: Reproductive Toxicity of Etoxazole in C. elegans
Our WormGazer™ technology enables a quantitative measure of reproductive toxicity. Extended analysis can be used to measure the rate of population growth and reveal delays in the onset of egg-laying.
Environmental Toxicity Case Study
For those looking at the environmental toxicity of their compounds, there are a few tried and tested options to ethically check whether your compounds will be toxic to wildlife and animals.
Get in touch today to find out how we can
support you to accelerate your research
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