For my excursion this semester, I went on a tour of Eurofins which is a biological and chemical contract research organization. This tour was sponsored by the University Career Center for the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR). It occurred on November 3rd, 2023 at their branch in Easton, Maryland. The main concept of the tour was to show us, University of Maryland students, what Eurofins employees do as their work. They also talked about the overall purpose and tasks the company goes through as a contract research organization. They work with companies that are developing products like drugs, pesticides, or cosmetics and do their clinical phase testing. The results are sent back to the company and if the product successfully passed the testing, those results will get sent to a regulatory agency such as the FDA. Eurofins is a global company and works with companies from around the world so they do their testing according to international standards as most government agencies follow similar sets of standards. Most of their testing is done with animal subjects like earthworms, fish, frogs, or birds. They also do much of their testing on plant subjects grown in their greenhouses or out on crop fields. I found this tour interesting and I learned a lot more about how biological and chemical research is conducted in a private company. First, we got presentations on the basic information of the company like their daily tasks and type of companies they work with. Then we got a tour of their company site, starting with their earthworms. They raise their own earthworms so they are of consistent quality. They also play music for them everyday as it apparently helps their quality of growth. Then we went to their greenhouse where they grow the plants that they test substances on. At that time, they were only growing some onion plants. Next, we went to their biology labs where they run tests like PCR and protein assays for the fish and frogs. After that, we went to where they have their fish tanks. An example of what they do with fish is that they test endocrine disruptors, like cancer drugs, which requires monitoring of multiple generations of fish. The last part of the tour was at their chemistry labs where they take any of the test results and do chemical testing like IR spectrometry. This work is important as it is part of the government review process in all countries around the world. No drugs or chemical products can be approved without safety and efficacy testing. It is required for the safety of people, animals, and the environment. It may seem cruel to use animals like fish, frogs, and birds for these types of testing trials but it is necessary for the overall well being of those species. If a drug that was unsafe for frogs got into the environment, it could be detrimental for whole species of frogs. Based on one of the presentations given, Eurofins also has contributed greatly to optimizing how many birds are used in drug trials. In the past, 60 birds used to be required to run one trial but now, only 10 birds are required in trials today.