london

The British government is to carry out an audit of government-funded research into alternatives to the use of animals in research, before deciding whether to increase investment in this field.

George Howarth, the minister responsible for regulating the use of animals in research, made this pledge at a Home Office meeting last week with both supporters and opponents of the use of animals in research. The audit is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.

Howarth also promised to investigate ways of sharing data from research involving the use of animals – partly to avoid repeating the experiments. But he acknowledged that commercial organizations may be reluctant to do this.

The meeting, with representatives of more than 50 organizations, was the belated fulfilment of the Labour party's pre-election commitment to look into the use of animals in research. But Howarth remained non-committal on another pledge: to set up a Royal Commission on the issue (see Nature 388, 311; 1997).

The meeting brought together representatives of government, scientists, patients' organizations, industry and animal rights groups. Some questioned the value of convening a large group involving many who are unlikely to change their views.

“Informal contacts can be more fruitful,” commented one scientist. The problem, according to another, is that animal rights groups “do not accept the validity of any experiment that involves animals. You can't have dialogue in this situation.”

The meeting was organized to explore common ground rather than to reach a consensus, says Howarth. Most agreed on the need to fund more alternatives.