MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London
Science for Health
Report on animals containing human material
22 July 2011
Robin Lovell-Badge was a member of the working group of the Academy of Medical Sciences that has produced a report examining the use of animals containing human material in scientific research.
The Academy report recommends that medical research on animals with human material (ACHM) should be more tightly regulated. Experiments involving ACHM are necessary for medical research and could in future lead to new treatments, hence they are expected to grow in number. New ethical issues could emerge from their use and the report calls for a national body of experts. It also suggests that such experiments should be classified into three categories to determine the level of regulatory scrutiny required.
One of the animal research models that the working group considered was the mouse model of Down syndrome that NIMR’s Victor Tybulewicz developed in 2005 using a chromosome engineering approach. It includes some 300 human genes and is helping scientists to learn about the condition.
The working group comprised leading scientists, including NIMR’s Robin Lovell-Badge, and ethicists and it deliberated over a period of nearly two years. The group commissioned a public consultation which brought members of the public together with scientists in a series of workshops, discussion groups and interviews exploring public hopes and concerns around research involving animals containing human material. This formed a valuable input to the working group in its own deliberations.
Continuing public discussion about the issue is key so that these sorts of experiments are discussed openly. Some of them certainly should be done, but it needs to be done in an open way.
Robin Lovell-Badge
Full report
Animals containing human material. London, Academy of Medical Sciences, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-903401-32-3. Full-text of report.External links
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