“XCellR8 is a UK-based, GLP-accredited laboratory, exclusively devoted to animal-free safety and efficacy tests for the cosmetics, personal care and chemical industries. Our clients include high street retail brands, large ingredient manufacturers and fast growth SMEs. Many of our tests are for moisturisers, soaps and shampoos but also include household cleaning products and industrial chemicals.” What We Do, XcellR8
Did you know - because I’ll freely admit that I didn’t - that an absolute pioneer of non-animal testing is working out of a state-of-the-art lab on a high-tech business park near Warrington? That said pioneer, Dr Carol Treasure, has devoted over 30 years to the replacement of animal testing with more human-relevant science? That her lab is the only one in the world to eradicate ALL animal-derived components from their tests? And that XCellR8 won the Lush Prize in 2013 (a global prize fund to support initiatives to end or replace animal testing) and that this started a partnership with Lush which has supported much of XCellR8’s work ever since?
Given that I’m also supported by Lush (their dry shampoo bars are all that keeps my flowing locks looking so healthy ha ha) it’s all the more surprising that a) I didn’t know any of this, and that b) Carol and I have somehow never met before.
Which is my loss, because she is a wonderful human being: driven, highly articulate, compassionate, and very good fun. I know that now because I nipped up the motorway to XCellR8 yesterday to find out more about the work done at the lab and record a podcast with Carol (while confirming that I certainly didn’t miss my calling as a photographer…oh well).
Our vision is a world without animal testing, for any reason. I believe it’s possible to eradicate testing within the next few decades (within my lifetime) and we will look back on this as an era in our history wondering what we were thinking.
We recorded about two hours of conversation, touching on - well, pretty much everything from why animal testing is unnecessary and unethical, to why the ‘benchmark safety blanket’ is holding back advances in treatments and why universities need to be teaching graduate students modern methods of testing if they want to bolster their career opportunities. Given that animal testing is not my field of expertise, it’s perhaps redundant to say that ‘I learned a lot’ but - blimey, I learned a lot
I’ll need to do some editing of course (Carol very politely reassured me that none of my questions were at all stupid, but I’m not convinced), and hopefully I can get to that over the weekend.
If you’re at all interested in the individuals and the science behind the movement to end animal testing in labs though, this podcast will definitely be for you.
Politicians need to understand there’s a positive solution to animal testing that’s also better for humans and for the UK economy.
Huge thanks to Carol and everyone at XCellR8 for their time yesterday, and as soon as the podcast is ready I’ll put out a tweet.
XCellR8 Website and Twitter feed
Dr Carol Treasure Twitter feed