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LONDON — The U.K. on Tuesday outlined its plan to expedite the phasing out of animal testing in research, reflecting the push by a number of countries, including the U.S., to move beyond animal experiments even as some scientists stress the continued importance of such work. Under the government’s plan, issued by Science Minister Patrick Vallance, certain kinds of experiments will be halted within the next two years, and the use of dogs and monkeys in tests of human medicines will be reduced by 2030. The move away from animal research comes as scientists take advantage of cutting-edge technologies that advocates say can reduce the need for animal testing, including lab-grown organoids made up of human cells, organs-on-a-chip, and computational models that, with the help of AI, can digest massive amounts of data to predict what compounds will be safe and effective in people. Collectively, these are known as new approach methodologies, or NAMs.
