In May 2004, the UK Government announced that it was establishing a national centre for "best practice" in animal testing called "The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research". The board of the new centre was chaired by Lord Turnberg from 2004 to 2007. The focus of the centre is on the three Rs: the replacement, refinement, and reduction of animal testing. The three Rs were first published in the 1959 by W. M. S. Russell and Rex Birch in the book The Principles of Humane Experimentation Technique. The UK government currently still regards animal testing as necessary, but science minister Lord Sainsbury of Turville said that a "major opportunity" now existed to make progress in improving the welfare of animals used in testing through the three R's.
