GM mice raise animal tests to highest level for 15 years

The number of animal experiments conducted in Britain has reached its highest level in 15 years with more than three million "procedures" carried out in 2006, according to official figures released yesterday.

The Home Office announced that the number of experimental procedures increased by 4 per cent last year compared with 2005, with more than 3.01 million animal experiments being reported in Britain.

Most of the increase was due to the wider use of genetically modified mice, which has continued to increase for more than a decade as scientists create new animal models of human diseases. About 83 per cent of the experiments involved mice, rats and other rodents. Fish accounted for 9 per cent of the procedures and birds 4 per cent, the Home Office said.

Dogs, cats, horses and monkeys, which are given special status under the law, accounted for less than half of 1 per cent of the total number. Experiments on monkeys declined by 10 per cent compared with 2005.

The figures came as the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) mounted a High Court challenge to the Government, arguing that ministers are failing in their legal duty to ensure that animal suffering is kept to a minimum. The BUAV cited a statement from Michael Balls, the father of the cabinet minister Ed Balls, who said that current legislation has failed to curb animal suffering. Professor Balls was the chairman of the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments and helped draw up the 1986 animal procedures Act. "I had great hope that the system would ensure that animal use was reduced and suffering would be minimised," he said.

Many commentators argue that the GM animals have generated new ways of investigating incurable human disorders. "Today's announcement is good news," said Alastair Kent, the director of the Genetic Interest Group, which lobbies for families affected by inherited disorders. "Each experiment brings the day closer when we no longer need to use animals ... Then we will know enough to work safely with patients," he said.