AltTox Digest for December, 2009: AltTox Turns TwoFrom the AltTox Digest: AltTox recently marked its second anniversary. When we were fleshing out our plans for a new website, our main concern was whether developments in the narrow field of non-animal methods of toxicity testing would be substantial enough to warrant a dedicated website. The passage of time has allayed our concerns. In fact, before we even launched the website, the National Research Council issued its landmark report on Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century, A Vision and a Strategy. This has led to a rich discussion—on AltTox and elsewhere—of "21st Century Toxicology." Indeed, advancing "Tox 21c" and other mechanistically-driven approaches to toxicology—through online exchange of information and perspectives—can now be said to be a primary aim of AltTox. And as always, we try to reach diverse stakeholders in industry, government, academia, and non-governmental organizations, with a blend of relevant technical and policy information.
We've used the occasion of our second anniversary to reorganize the AltTox Forums. We’ve consolidated the several message boards into one. The new format unclutters the AltTox Forum homepage, and eliminates the need for Forum users to figure out which message board is most appropriate to the topic they'd like to write about. Consolidating the multiple Forums into one also better accommodates the current flow of Forum traffic. We hope you find the consolidated format more user-friendly. If you haven't posted a message before, please take the opportunity to do so now. Announcements and other informational postings are welcome, as are messages that convey a perspective on relevant issues. For those looking for past messages, the new Forum contains all of the messages that had been posted in our earlier Forums. One can search for past messages on specific topics by entering key words in the "Search" box on the Forum homepage. More forum postings, news, event listings, and subscription information are available in the full newsletter. | 
