The toxicology of drugs, potential drugs and other chemicals which might adversely affect humans or animals has been one of the most rapidly expanding areas of biological science during the last 25 years. This same period has seen the accelerating development of the techniques for cell and tissue culture in vitro. It is not surprising therefore that toxicologists have enthusiastically embraced these new techniques to develop their understanding of cellular mechanisms of toxicity and to provide screens for assessment of new compounds.

As might be expected the increased interest by toxicologists in in vitro techniques has also been reflected by the scientific literature. A review entitled “Tissue Culture and Toxicology” by R.C. Rofe (1971) proposed the comparison of the responses of a selection of human and animal tissues to compounds for which in vivo toxicological data already existed. A decade later saw the publication of two useful reviews by D. Neubert (1982) on the Use of Culture Techniques in Studies on Prenatal Toxicity and by J. Hooisma (1982) on Tissue Culture and Neurotoxicoiogy. Reviews of in-vitro techniques as alternatives to animal tests include those of Balls and Clothier (1983) on Differentiated Cell and Organ Culture in Toxicity Testing and by A.M. Goldberg (1985) on An Approach to the Development of In Vitro Toxicological Methods. A new journal entitled “In Vitro Toxicology” begins publication in 1987.