§ Alan SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what biotechnology research projects in(a) agriculture and (b) biomedics have been supported by her Department; and what level of public investment has gone into them in each of the last three years. [73239]
§ Ms HewittDTI has not funded any biotechnology research projects in agriculture. The Department has provided £5 million of funding under the Applied Genomics LINK programme, which was launched in 2000, together with £10 million funding from the Research Councils, to assist the exploitation of genomics for healthcare applications. In addition, a substantial part of the £25 millionHarnessing Genomics programme, launched by DTI in 2001, is providing support for industrially relevant R and D in key underpinning technology areas, including bioinformatics and nanobiotechnology.