(MENAFN) The UK government has released its first comprehensive plan outlining how it intends to honor its manifesto commitment to gradually phase out animal experimentation.

The strategy includes ending the use of animals in certain major safety assessments by the close of this year and aims to cut the use of dogs and non-human primates in human medicine research by at least 35% by 2030.

The Labour Party’s manifesto emphasized its intention to "partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing."

Science Minister Lord Vallance commented that he could foresee a future where animal use in research is nearly eliminated, though he recognized that this goal would require significant time.

Historically, animal experiments in the UK peaked at 4.14 million in 2015, largely due to a surge in genetic modification studies, mainly involving mice and fish. By 2020, the number had fallen sharply to 2.88 million with the advent of alternative testing methods, though progress has since stagnated.

Lord Vallance expressed a desire to revive the rapid decline by replacing animal studies with experiments using stem-cell-derived tissues, artificial intelligence, and computer-based simulations.

Asked whether he envisioned a world with "near zero" animal testing, he stated: "I think that is possible, it's not possible anytime soon, the idea that we can eliminate animal use in the foreseeable future, I don't think is there.

'Can we get very close to it? I think we can. Can we push faster than we have been? I think we can. Should we? We absolutely should.'

'This is a moment to really grasp that and drive these alternative approaches.'"

Government plans indicate that by the end of 2025, some major safety tests will transition from animal models to laboratory methods utilizing human cells.

Despite these ambitions, many scientists caution that completely eliminating animal experiments remains highly challenging even over the long term, including some strong proponents of non-animal methods.

"I very strongly believe that that is not possible for reasons of safety," said Prof Frances Balkwill of Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London.

Prof Balkwill, who researches ovarian cancer recurrence, employs both mice and non-animal approaches and emphasized the continued necessity of animal models. "These non-animal methods will never replace the complexity that we can see when we have a tumour growing in a whole organism, such as a mouse," she noted.

One leading hub for advancing animal-free research is the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models (CPM) at Queen Mary University. Scientists there are pioneering the so-called "organ-on-a-chip" technology, which may evoke images of tiny beating hearts or brains on circuits—but the process is less sensational.

Small glass devices contain minute human cell samples from organs like the liver or brain, linked to electrodes that relay data to computers. The CPM’s co-director, Prof Hazel Screen, highlighted the ability to interconnect cells from different organs to simulate interactions across the body.

"In theory, you can build any organ on a chip. Then I can use it to test a new drug," she said.
"And because we're taking human cells, we should be able to do better quality science."

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