Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, geneticist at the National Institute for Medical Research, said that in reality the number of imported animals such as mice that are used in research is very small because a pair are bred when they are brought into a lab.
After decades of being research animals, the chimps unsurprisingly looked weary and dishevelled, even after their anti-depressant treatment.
One charity that has decided to be open about its own use of animals in research is the British Heart Foundation.
But every year, a lucky few get the chance to feed, bathe and exercise the endangered animals at the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China.
"It's now getting to the point where enough companies have been intimidated and have refused to transport animals that we can see a potential worldwide impact of having problems of transporting animals between labs that will massively impact on the collaborative nature of research and will slow research progress, " he said.
Mr Blair has also signed a petition supporting the use of animals in medical research.
The use of animals in research is undergoing its first major review since its creation in 1986.
The study supported findings from previous research showing that animals that approach the front of the cage when a visitor nears have a much greater chance of being placed in a new home.
The genetic modification of animals for medical research or drug development is seen as a necessary evil.
Without the test animals, whole swaths of medical research would grind to a halt.
Sir Bob May, the president of the Royal Society, said he hoped research into GM animals would be funded primarily by public sources so that it could meet the needs of developing countries, rather than being driven by the desires of agribusiness for leaner meat and cheaper food.
Scientists are warning that a new campaign by animal rights activists, aimed at the companies involved in the transport of laboratory animals, threatens to undermine research into new cures and treatments for disease.
He said there was support among "the great majority of the public" for medical research using animals as well as a "revolution" in reproductive medicine made by such research.
Most of the green tea research has been done on animals.
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It recommended that all laboratories carrying out research on GM animals should have emergency plans in the event of an escape.
Each group should research the location of the river, its benefits to people and animals, the current condition of the river and the potential effects on the river's ecosystem and the local community if the river were to become contaminated.
"The absurd anti-vivisection agenda of abolishing life-saving medical research involving animals is being systematically shredded before our eyes, " he said.
They were one of the first animal research projects to use DNA finger-printing techniques in wild animals so as to understand the relationships within a pride.
Dr Matthew Gage, from the University of East Anglia, who carries out research into sperm function in animals, said it was highly unlikely that sperm were capable of any form of cognitive thought.
He says he wants the research to help prevent "one of Britain's most incredible, iconic animals from disappearing from the face of the earth".
Though the government makes supportive noises in defence of both scientific research and lawful business involving animals, few prosecutions have been brought against animal-rights activists who have crossed the line from legal protest to illegal threats and violence.
Professor Aziz has been working on the brain for decades and is a strong proponent of primate research, having used these animals to develop treatments for neurological diseases such as Parkinson's.
Research on animals has suggested that stress can have an effect on tumour growth and the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.
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