Animal Free Labcast #59 - Animal Testing Statistics, and the Science Replacing FBS

More than 2.54 million animal experiments were carried out in Great Britain in 2025, down just 3.8% on the previous year. Use of "specially protected" species, dogs, cats, horses and monkeys, rose by 7%. The figures haven't gone unnoticed in Westminster. MP Lee Pitcher raised the figures in the Commons, referencing Herbie's Law directly, while minister Sarah Jones pointed to the government's £75 million strategy to accelerate change.

Dr Fiona Saunders from the University of Aberdeen's Animal Replacement Centre of Excellence joins to talk about her work replacing foetal bovine serum (FBS) in breast cancer research. FBS has been a laboratory staple for decades, but it comes with ethical costs and scientific ones too, its batch-to-batch variability makes experiments harder to reproduce. Fiona explains why swapping it out is trickier than it sounds, and how her team's work could help labs worldwide make the switch.

Myth Buster 

Dogs, cats, monkeys and horses are protected from use in experiments in Britain.

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