Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department’s publication entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what steps she is taking to end the use of the LD50 and LC50 tests.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Strategy uses a ‘baskets’ approach to group animal tests according to how ready they are for replacement, based on the maturity of potential alternative methods. These initial baskets are not exhaustive and will be reviewed and refined in consultation with the research community on a regular basis, noting that two LD/LC50 tests are already in basket 1 and 2 (botulinum potency and fish acute toxicity tests respectively) meaning they are among the first targeted for phase-out.
In addition, the Government-funded National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) has ongoing work to replace, reduce and refine LD/LC50 tests.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department’s publication entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, if she will consider including all instances of the use of the LD50 and LC50 tests in Basket 1: Animal testing/models for which mature replacement technologies already exist and could be applied to phase out in all but exceptional circumstances.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Strategy uses a ‘baskets’ approach to group animal tests according to how ready they are for replacement, based on the maturity of potential alternative methods. These initial baskets are not exhaustive and will be reviewed and refined in consultation with the research community on a regular basis, noting that two LD/LC50 tests are already in basket 1 and 2 (botulinum potency and fish acute toxicity tests respectively) meaning they are among the first targeted for phase-out.
In addition, the Government-funded National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) has ongoing work to replace, reduce and refine LD/LC50 tests.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the UK Space Agency becoming part of his Department on that agency’s partnership with the Scouts.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Space Agency‘s merger with DSIT’s Space Directorate from 1 April 2026 will not affect any changes to grants, contracts, or partnerships, including to the sponsorship of Scouting Space badges which help promote awareness of the UK’s space programme and develop STEM knowledge and skills among young people.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of recent developments in organ-on-chip technology on the generation of data on how organs react to potential new medicines.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government is committed to non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year. While it is not yet possible to replace all animal use, we support approaches that replace, reduce and refine animal use in research, including organ-on-chip technologies. Data from alternative methods can support medicine development as part of clinical trial applications. The impact of individual technical advancements are however a matter for individual regulators to consider, and the Government strategy will help facilitate the inclusion and adoption of alternative methods in these regulatory contexts.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Performance assessment and economic analysis of a human Liver-Chip for predictive toxicology study published in 2022 in Nature Communications Medicine.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government is committed to non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year. While it is not yet possible to replace all animal use, we support approaches that replace, reduce and refine animal use in research, including human Liver-Chip models. The economic impact of individual technical advancements are to be defined as these technologies are utilised more widely by industry stakeholders in drug discovery and development. The Government strategy will help facilitate the inclusion, review and adoption of these types of validated alternative methods by regulators.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies on animal testing of the ability of (a) organ-on-chip, (b) artificial intelligence and (c) advanced use of human cells and tissues to provide human-relevant data on the effects of potential new medicines in whole biological systems.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government is committed to non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year. While it is not yet possible to replace all animal use, we support approaches that replace, reduce and refine animal use in research, and provide human-relevant translatable data, including organ-on-chip, cell-based assays and AI. The impact of individual technical advancements are however a matter for individual regulators to consider, and the Government strategy will help facilitate the inclusion and adoption of alternative methods in these regulatory contexts.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the data collated in the Centre for Human Specific Research's Recombinant Antibodies and Mimetics Database on advancing studies in (a) disease mechanisms, (b) diagnostics and (c) therapeutics.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year. Recombinant antibodies offer enhanced reliability, consistency, and specificity compared to traditional animal-derived antibodies, strengthening studies into disease mechanisms, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Resources like the Recombinant Antibodies and Mimetics Database from the Centre for Human Specific Research are important information sources to support their wider uptake. Further steps supporting alternative methods, including any targets to phase out specific applications of animal testing, will be outlined in the upcoming strategy.