Transcriptomic Approaches in In Vitro Developmental Toxicity Testing

There is an increasing need to reduce animal usage by improving alternative models, especially for developmental toxicity prediction. In vitro alternatives like whole-embryo culture, embryonic stem cells, and zebrafish embryos are promising; however, none of the assays is ready as yet to be utilized as a replacement for in vivo animal studies. The use of transcriptomics provides a new, potentially useful, tool to characterize, classify, and potentially predict developmental toxicants. This chapter gives an overview of transcriptomic applications, in combination with various assay models, in the field of in vitro developmental toxicity testing. Furthermore, an outlook is given on the needs to tailor in vitro alternatives for the assessment of developmental toxicity for risk assessment purposes.