Human Fertilisation and Embryology

Part of Living Wage (Reporting) – in the House of Commons at 2:38 pm on 3 February 2015.

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Photo of Andrew Miller Andrew Miller Chair, Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, Chair, Science, Innovation and Technology Committee 2:38, 3 February 2015

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point, but there are plenty of occasions when such tests are not carried out. In central Africa we have been testing Ebola vaccines without first testing them on primates, because the benefits outweigh the risks. We are in that position already. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South referred to research undertaken in China 10 years ago. He rightly said that that work took place, but I put it to Members of this House that the ethical and scientific rigour applied to experimentation in the UK far exceeds anything in China 10 years ago. Indeed, the technologies have also moved on to a very high degree since then.