HC Deb 26 January 2004 vol 417 c90W
Miss Kirkbride

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the research that has been carried out following studies of genetic materials held in British museums. [145593]

Ms Hewitt

Museums hold a great deal of material that could be classed as genetic material: from human, animal or insect remains to collections of seeds and plants samples, even marine sediments contain genetic material which could be used in research.

There are many of possible funders including the Government Departments, devolved Administrations, Research Councils, universities, charities and the museums themselves. There is no central record of all the research funded by these different bodies or of the research carried out on the different sources of genetic material and it would be cost prohibitive to gather it.