asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to clarify the possible rôle of thalidomide as an auto-abortive inhibitor, in view of the suggested applications in surgical grafting.

The Medical Research Council are aware of the suggestion in a recent article in the "British Medical Journal" that in certain circumstances thalidomide may somewhat increase the survival time of skin grafts in mice without toxic effects; and of the hypothesis that the drug may have immunosuppresive properties which may have the effect of preventing the abortion of a malformed foetus. The experimental results so far have been inconclusive, but I am advised that they are being followed up by other research workers.