Nuria Terribas, from the Borja Bioethics Institute, a think-tank in Barcelona, said: “We think a limit of 45 should be established in law.

We are totally against every kind of scientific misconducts and strongly believe that a research scientist should keep high standards in bioethics.

Murine morals Between 50m and 100m animals are used in research each year around the world, says the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, a British think-tank.