Animal testing 'likely to rise'Animal testing 'likely to rise'

pa.press.net
The number of monkeys and other non-human primates used in animal experiments is expected to rise as new sophisticated therapies are developed for complex diseases.

Scientists made the prediction as the Home Office released new figures showing a 6% rise in the number of scientific procedures involving animals between 2006 and 2007.

The total number of procedures carried out in the UK last year was just over 3.2 million. It was the sixth year in a row that the figure had increased, mainly due to the growing use of genetically-modified rodents and fish.

Around 4,000 procedures involved non-human primates, a fall of 6% on 2006. But experts warned that progress in stem cell research and the development of new antibody-based treatments was likely to put pressure on scientists to conduct more primate experiments in the future.

One reason was that animals more closely related to humans than the traditional lab rat or mouse are needed when investigating ways to tackle complex neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases.

However the scientists made it clear there were no immediate prospects of using great apes, humankind's closest animal relatives, for such procedures. Experiments on chimpanzees and other great apes are currently banned in the UK.

Dr Judy MacArthur Clark, the Home Office's Chief Inspector of Animal Procedures, said there could be no shift in the direction of great apes without a major public and political debate.

"It will not come out of the blue," she said at a news conference in London. "This is not something that's going to be snuck in, there would be big public and political debate around it before any decisions are taken."

At present there are no facilities for great ape experiments in the UK and no available animals.

The new figures were announced in the latest reports on animal testing statistics from the Home Office's Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate.

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Madness....