§ Mr. J. H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what international collaboration he has arranged with research institutes in other countries, and particularly the Soviet Union, with a view to studying production of synthetic proteins and carbohydrates;
(2) what research he has sponsored for the synthetic production of proteins and carbohydrates; and what has been the outcome of this research so far.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsNone on synthetic production of edible proteins or carbohydrates: but I am aware of a great deal of activity, in this country and in other, directed to extracting protein from unusual sources including some hitherto regarded as "waste" and evaluating its potential as feed.
At Rothamsted work is proceeding on protein from plant material, and other A.R.C. institutes are studying other sources, the use of compounds such as 173W Urea as replacements for protein, supplementation of vegetable protein by synthetic amino-acids.
The National Agricultural Advisory Service collaborates in evaluation and trials work. A number of commercial firms are; also active in the same general field using other materials, including a limited amount of work on meat and fish analogues using protein derived from vegetable sources. Similar work is going on overseas, and the United Nations Economic and Social Council is seeking to bring together all available information on work in progress to increase the production of edible proteins.