Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps to support research and development into (a) advanced cultures of human cells and tissues, (b) organ-on-a-chip technology and (c) artificial intelligence.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a portfolio of research involving humans, human materials, animal models, and non-animal technologies. This includes a recent £5 million investment by UKRI’s Medical Research Council in two new platforms as part of a human nervous tissue resources call; and a £4.7 million joint funding call by UKRI’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research focussed on supporting next generation non-animal technologies, such as organ-on-a-chip.

This complements work by UKRI including £1.6 million support for an AI in bioscience network.