Functional toxicology: a new approach to detect biologically active xenobiotics.

The pervasiveness of chemicals in the environment with estrogenic activity and other biological functions recommends the development of new approaches to monitor and study them. Chemicals can be screened for activity in vitro using a panel of human or animal cells that have been transfected with a specific receptor and reporter gene; for example, the estrogen receptor. By using a variety of different receptors, the screening of xenobiotics for biological functions can be broad. Chemicals could then be classified by their function in vitro which, in some cases, may be a useful guide for toxicological studies.