Michael Festing is a British research scientist best known for his interest inanimal testing.
He is one of 19 members of the UK'sAnimal Procedures Committee, which advises theHome Secretary on matters related to animal testing. He was previously a trustee of theFund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME[1]), which funds and promotes research into the use of animal alternatives. He is also a council member of the Institute of Laboratory Animals Research USA.[2]
Most of Festing's career has been involved in promoting reduction of the numbers of animals used in research. Nonetheless, Festing has been criticized by theanimal rights movement for his investment in companies that engage in animal testing, which according to the Animal Procedures Committee register of members' interests,[3] includesAstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Alizyme, Akambis, Cambridge Antibody,Shire Pharmaceuticals, andCelltech.[4]
He is also a consultantgeneticist toHarlan UK, which supplies animals to laboratories.[5]
Festing is a chartered statistician, has a Ph.D in quantitative genetics fromIowa State University, and a D.Sc. from theUniversity of London.
He is the father ofSimon Festing, the former executive director of theResearch Defence Society, which focuses on supplying information about, and defending, the use of animals in medical experiments in the UK.
Festing is the author of over 200 scientific papers on laboratory animal genetics and related issues. He has a particular interest in improving the design of animal experiments, particularly in the area oftoxicology testing. He has written books cataloguing laboratory animals, includingInternational Index of Laboratory Animals andInbred Strains in Biomedical Research.
He was the winner in 1996 of theGlaxoSmithKline Laboratory Animal Welfare Prize for his work while at theUniversity of Leicester on "improved experimental design leading to reductions in the use of laboratory animals."[6]
