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 role of new technologies in reducing the use of animals in scientific research.

The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in science and will publish a strategy to support their adoption. UK Research and Innovation supports new technologies and approaches that replace animal use in research, including organ-on-a-chip, functional genomics and computer modelling. The impact of individual technical advancements is a matter for individual regulators to consider. The Government’s strategy on this will facilitate the inclusion and adoption of alternative methods in these regulatory contexts.