Enhancing statistical methodology for toxicophenomics: High-throughput and high-dimensional data for ecotoxicological risk assessment

This project aims to improve the analysis methods for high-throughput plant phenotyping to provide an efficient and accurate method for evaluating ecotoxicological hazard of new and existing pesticides.

Crop production needs to increase dramatically to feed the growing world population, particularly if meat consumption and production is reduced to lower CO2 emissions. Agrochemicals, such as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and chemical growth regulators, are widely used to achieve the goal of higher, more stable yields but to avoid harm to the environment, such products must undergo rigorous environmental toxicological risk assessment.

The project seeks to expand and improve upon the so-called benchmark dose methodology – a statistical methodology used for ecotoxicological risk assessment – to use large-scale, high-throughput and high-dimensional dose-response data to assess the efficacy and ecotoxicological hazards of chemicals used in agriculture or in private gardens. The methodology should be equally useful for non-chemical stressors, e.g., evaluating the effect of climate-related stress on plants in the context of climate change.

Read more about the project here.