In this year-end episode, Carla and Dr Gemma reflect on a year of real progress towards replacing animal testing with human-focused medical research. We bring together highlights from across the series, featuring scientists, campaigners, politicians and well-known supporters who are helping to drive change.

You can hear about strong public backing for the charity’s campaign asks, major milestones for Herbie’s Law, and exciting advances in animal-free research. We also celebrate the vital role of supporters in funding innovation, influencing policy and helping to move the UK closer to ethical, human-relevant science.

Our Labcasts will be back in 2026 with more insightful, inspiring and occasionally funny episodes.

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In episode 49 of the Animal Free Labcast, hosts Carla and Dr. Gemma Davis welcome two key guests from Animal Free Research UK — Head of Science, Dr. Ross Dobie and Director of Public Affairs, Isobel Martin — for a deep dive into the UK government’s new strategy on phasing out animal testing.

Main highlights

• 96% of listeners believe cancer research should prioritise replacing animal experiments.
• Ross and Isobel agree the new government strategy is a step forward, but not ambitious enough.
• The plan focuses more on phasing in alternatives than phasing out animal testing — a concern for campaigners.
• The team outlines four priorities to push progress further:

1. Put the strategy into law — so promises can’t quietly disappear with political change.
2. Replace animal-derived antibodies — switching to more reliable & ethical recombinant alternatives.
3. Give parliament a seat at the table — ensuring MPs can hold government to account.
4. Demand transparency — clearer timelines, budgets, and implementation details.

Big supporter milestone

Thanks to public action, all 650 UK MPs have now been contacted about the need for animal-free science — a major breakthrough driven entirely by supporters.

Poll of the week: Do you support our four campaign asks?
Vote on Instagram, X, Facebook or LinkedIn.

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In this episode of the Animal Free Labcast, Carla Owen and Dr Gemma Davis discuss the UK Government’s new strategy to phase out animal testing and what it means for animals and science. Early feedback from supporters shows strong concern, with 99% of poll respondents saying the strategy is too slow.

They highlight AFR UK’s recent work with MPs, including six parliamentary questions calling for stronger legal commitments, and the 586 supporters who contacted their MPs to push for urgent action. New Home Office summaries also show that more than five million animals have been approved for experiments over the next five years.

Carla and Gemma speak with Dr Ethan Perkins from the University of Bradford, whose funded research grant is developing a human-cell prostate cancer model. His organ-on-a-chip approach aims to predict drug responses more accurately, reduce the use of animals in cancer studies, and support more personalised treatments. His team has already created promising tumour structures and is preparing to test cancer drugs on these fully animal-free models.

Poll of the Week:
Should the Government’s strategy prioritise replacing animal experiments in cancer research?

Vote now on X, Facebook or Instagram!

Have your say: Call 0208 054 9695 to share your thoughts.

Support the cause: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

Thanks for listening! Make sure you leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

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In this special episode, Carla Owen and Dr Gemma Davis speak with Public Affairs Manager Aaron Davidson about the UK Government’s new strategy to accelerate the phase-out of animal testing. They outline key positives, including a clearer commitment to full replacement, investment in human-specific research hubs, better training for early-career scientists and steps to reduce publication bias.

They also discuss how sustained advocacy helped shape the strategy, alongside the gaps that remain, such as the lack of legal deadlines, limited funding, and vague commitments. The team emphasise that while this is an important milestone, further action is needed to deliver a truly animal-free research system.

Poll of the Week:
Do you think the Government’s strategy on phasing out animal testing faster goes far and fast enough?

Vote now on X, Facebook or Instagram!

Have your say: Call 0208 054 9695 to share your thoughts.

Support the cause: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

Thanks for listening! Make sure you leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

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In this inspiring episode, Carla and Gemma spotlight two pioneering PhD researchers from the University of Glasgow’s Lifetime CDT programme – Celia Ribes Balanza and Athena Mattheou – who are redefining what the future of science looks like.

Fresh from presenting their research at the UK Parliament, Celia and Athena share how they’re helping to phase out animal testing and drive forward human-relevant innovation. Supported by Animal Free Research UK, the Lifetime CDT is training the next generation of scientists to create smarter, kinder research methods that truly deliver for patients.

Celia discusses her cutting-edge “organ-on-a-chip” model and Athena introduces her work developing next-generation synthetic hydrogels for wound healing. Together, they reveal how animal-free research is gaining real momentum in universities, Parliament and beyond – proving that ethical science is also the most effective science.

Poll of the Week:
Will animal testing end sooner if MPs act, rather than waiting for animal researchers to retire?

Vote now on X, Facebook or Instagram!

Have your say: Call 0208 054 9695 to share your thoughts.

Support the cause: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

Thanks for listening! Make sure you leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram to keep up to date on all things animal free research!

In this powerful episode, Carla and Dr. Gemma unpack the newly released 2024 Home Office statistics on animal experiments — revealing that 2.64 million procedures were carried out in British labs last year, with only a 1.2% decrease from 2023. They discuss the shocking figures behind genetically altered animals, the continued use of dogs, cats, horses, and monkeys, and why the so-called “progress” remains far too slow.

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, they’re joined by Dr. Jenny Ashworth from the University of Nottingham, who shares her ground-breaking work developing animal-free materials to study patient-derived breast cancer samples. Jenny explains how her lab uses human-relevant 3D cell models (organoids) and synthetic hydrogels to replace animal-derived products, paving the way for more ethical and effective breast cancer treatments — and even the potential for personalised medicine.

🎧 Poll of the Week:
Does research into personalised medicine make you feel more hopeful about the future of breast cancer treatment?
Vote now on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram.

To read more about the stats, Herbie’s Law, and animal-free research, visit animalfreeresearchuk.org

Thanks for listening! Make sure you leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram to keep up to date on all things animal free research!

In this episode of the Animal Free Labcast, Carla Owen and Dr Gemma Davies answer your top questions about animal-free research — and record on video for the first time (tech hiccups included!).

Carla shares how Animal Free Research UK is driving Herbie’s Law and working across parties to make animal-free science a political priority. Gemma explains how breakthroughs like organ-on-chip, AI models, and 3D cell cultures are replacing animal tests and why cultural change in research is key.

They also clear up myths about regulation and discuss how sharing negative data could stop duplicate animal experiments.

Poll of the Week: To avoid duplicate animal tests, should researchers be incentivised to share their results with others?

Vote now on X, Facebook or Instagram!

Have your say: Call 0208 054 9695 to share your thoughts.

Support the cause: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

Thanks for listening! Make sure you leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram to keep up to date on all things animal free research!

This week Carla and Dr Gemma Davies speak with Dr Adjanie Patabendige from the University of Derby, who is pioneering animal-free research into how irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) may increase the risk of dementia. Using human cells and lab-grown models of the blood-brain barrier, her work replaces animal-derived materials with human equivalents, offering more relevant results and greater compassion.

We also discuss Herbie’s Law – the proposed plan to phase out animal testing by 2035 – and why investing in human-focused science is better for both patients and animals.

No poll this week! t’s your chance to ask us anything! Whether it’s about science, policy, regulations, or the future of animal-free research!

Send your questions to hello@animalfreeresearchuk.org or post on our socials: X, Facebook or Instagram and we’ll answer them in the next episode.

Thanks for listening! Make sure you leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram to keep up to date on all things animal free research!