"The key purpose of pre-clinical safety and efficacy studies is to forecast possible biological effects deriving from human exposure to different chemical agents. These studies are of utmost importance for the development, registration and marketing of new products. Skin Vitro laboratory adheres fully to the 3R's Program (Reduction, Refinement, Replacement). No animals are used for research purposes. Instead, alternative techniques are used in safety and efficacy studies. The testing systems used are culture of human cells, skin fragments (ex vivo) and skin equivalent. The markers involved in skin metabolism are measured by several techniques, including ELISA, gene expression, immunocytochemistry, immunocytofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, immunohistofluorescence, special colorings, confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, microarray, sequencing, among others."