Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help support scientists to transition to animal-free, human-specific technologies through (a) practical support, (b) the provision of training and (c) other means.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government, via UK Research & Innovation, funds the development of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research through the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs). The NC3Rs encourages researchers’ to use non-animal methods (NAMs) in a number of ways, including supporting the skills base by funding PhD students to work only on the development of NAMs, and dedicated funding allowing researchers to test methods alongside existing animal studies. NC3Rs recently launched a network to bring researchers from academia, industry and regulatory authorities together to share knowledge on the use of NAMs methods for safety testing.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of hosting a global summit on human-specific technologies for scientists and policymakers to discuss the transition to these methodologies.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The UK works closely with international partners and key organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to promote the development and uptake of animal replacement technologies. There are currently no plans to host a summit on the matter.