Together with Inmetro, Johns Hopkins University in the USA, and the University of Windsor in Canada, Natura organized the 2nd Pan-American Conference on Alternative Methods to Animal Testing. The Conference took place in Rio de Janeiro on August 23 and 24 and was the largest event of the year in Brazil dedicated to the topic.
“The event exceeded our expectations in terms of participant numbers, and the content of the discussions brought forth debates on bioprinting technologies, organ-on-a-chip, reconstructed skin, and other cutting-edge research that will make the future a world without animal testing. There is a great interest from the academic community, companies, and NGOs to discuss and find solutions that will place Brazil in a prominent position in this field of knowledge,” said Vanessa Rocha, scientific manager at Natura and co-organizer of the Conference.
In addition to organizing, Natura had the following contributions:
Vanessa Rocha, scientific manager of Product Safety, led the discussion session on advancements and challenges for cosmetic companies, where she presented the evolution of Natura's alternative testing since 2006, the year the company ended animal testing. Since then, more than 67 alternative methodologies have been developed, including models to assess product and ingredient allergy and irritation. Her plenary session presented the animal-free approaches used by Natura to evaluate the safety of biodiversity ingredients.
Juliana Lago, a researcher in cosmetic technologies, presented the new bioprinting technology, in which skin tissues are manufactured using a 3D bioprinter. Natura is the first Brazilian company to acquire this technology, which will allow for the production of more standardized tissues on a larger scale for testing. Juliana also presented the potential of using 3D skin for sun protection studies.
Daniela Zimbardi, scientific manager in cosmetic technologies, presented large-scale genomic mapping technology to identify the potential of Brazilian biodiversity ingredients. This technology has allowed Natura to identify the main functionalities of ingredients such as ucuuba or patauá regarding their moisturizing, anti-aging, or hair growth acceleration properties, for example. Daniela also presented the use of genomic technology associated with the 3D skin model as an alternative method in the preclinical risk assessment of cosmetic ingredients.
Cintia Paes, Cyro Zacarias, and Marcelo Vieira, researchers in product safety, presented integrated safety assessment strategies addressing in vitro studies, exposure limit calculations, and in silico computational tools and Read Across, making it possible to use exclusive ingredients using animal-free approaches.
