§ Mr. Coombsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans he has to sponsor or promote research in the United Kingdom into the substance known as tumour necrosis factor; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BrookeI have been asked to reply.
The Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid through the Department, is the main Government agency for the promotion of medical research in the United Kingdom. My right hon. Friend's practice is to give the MRC its grant-in-aid without direction as to how it should be allocated between its various fields of work.
I understand from the MRC that it has provided approximately £267,000 through its grant schemes to support work using the substance known as human tumour necrosis factor. The council is always willing to consider soundly based research proposals for support through its research grant schemes in competition with other applications.
It is possible that research work involving the use of tumour necrosis factor is also being conducted in universities and medical schools using funds allocated for teaching and reseach on the advice of the University Grants Committee, but no details of such work are available. The medical charities may also be funding research in these fields.
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§ Mr. Coombsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has about research into the substance known as tumour necrosis factor; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BrookeI have been asked to reply.
I understand that there has been interest in tumour necrosis factor (TNF) since the early seventies, but 614W progress into research has been hampered by difficulties with its purification. The recent announcement that the gene for human TNF has been cloned in E Coli is a significant step forward. It should enable sufficient supplies of pure TNF to be made available for further laboratory studies and, subsequently, for trials of its use for therapeutic purposes.