§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many GM animals were being used in research at the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by species; and if he will make a statement on the efficiency rates of this technique. [9598]
§ Angela EagleI have been asked to reply.
The number of scientific procedures started in the last year for which figures are available, involving genetically modified animals and showing the species and the purposes for which they were used, is given in Table 3.3 of the publication "Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain, 2000", a copy of which is in the Library. The number of animals used is close to the number of procedures, as animals are not normally re-used.
Questions about the science involved are primarily for the Minister of Science and Innovation at the Department of Trade and Industry. However, I understand a range of techniques are used, depending on the required type of modification, to produce new lines of genetically modified animals. The efficiency of the techniques ranges broadly from 1 per cent. to 30 per cent. (that is, the number of successfully genetically modified offspring as a percentage of the number of germ cells or embryos manipulated).
The offspring of established genetically modified lines are also reported in the Home Office/National Statistics annual publication mentioned. About 35 per cent. of such offspring are used in research programmes, the remainder being used for further breeding only.
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Table 3.3: Procedures using genetically modified animals in breeding procedures or research Great Britain 2000 Number of procedures Species of animal Generation of founder animals Maintenance of breeding colony Used for further non-regulated scientific purpose1 Used in further regulated procedures Used in production and other procedures2 Used in safety evaluation studies3 Total Mouse 15,129 373,313 86,052 46,250 52,622 1,794 575,160 Rat 433 1,153 155 987 659 — 3,387 Other Rodent — — — — — — — Rabbit — 7 — 16 — — 23 Cat — — — — — — — Dog — — — — — — — Ferret — — — — — — — Other Carnivore — — — — — — — Horse and other equids — — — — — — — Other Ungulates 321 1,064 — — 6 — 1,391 New World monkey — — — — — — — Old World monkey — — — — — — — Other mammal — — — — — — — Bird 2 — — — — — 2 Reptile/Amphibian 51 63 15 133 — — 262 Fish — 1,367 — — 148 — 1,515 Total 15,936 376,967 86,222 47,386 53,435 1,794 581,740 1 See Annex A of Appendix C 2 Includes production of various biological materials (codes B50-B56 in Appendix C); also includes procedures not concerned with production (code B79) 3 Reported using A codes in rows 10–12 (see Appendix C)