Lord Drayson: Winning the War on Animal Testing

In this interview, Lord Drayson attributes his position as UK Science Minister to animal rights extremism. A former executive of a biotechnology company in the UK, Drayson recounts how public opposition to scientific and medical research involving animals has declined by 10% in the past decade. Specifically, an Ipsos MORI survey showed that a third of British adults would like a ban on animal experimentation, while the number who now say there is a need for animal research has increased by 28% since 1999.

Approximately 3.7 million animal experiments were conducted in the UK last year, representing an increase of 454,000 experiments (+14%) from the previous year.

Regulation of animal experimentation in the UK is among the strictest in the world, according to Drayson, leading to some "big advances in the way animals are kept." However, experts believe that with the growing biomedical industry, the number of animal experiments is likely to grow.