Life Science log

Airlines and ferry companies no longer transporting animals for testing, former science minister saysVital medical research is being "choked off" because airlines and ferry companies are refusing to bring animals into the country for testing in the face of pressure from animals' rights activists, a former science minister has warned.Lord Drayson, who was a minister in the last Labour government, said "extremists" had picked off the companies, which had pulled out of transporting laboratory mice and other animals.The Times reported that Stena Line had followed DFDS Seaways and P&O Ferries in halting the carriage of test animals, closing the last sea route for medical researchers.The Channel tunnel had long refused the trade, it said, while no UK-based airline, including British Airways, would carry laboratory animals.Imported animals account for a small proportion of those used in British laboratories, but scientists say access to genetically modified strains bred overseas is vital for some advanced research.L