The Biomedical Animal Research News (BARN) Digest collates animal research news from Concordat on Openness signatories and UAR’s 150+ member organisations into one, easy to access, feed. These animal research related stories include topics such as: medical studies and advancements; animal welfare and 3Rs news; funding, regulatory, and policy news; and conservation and environmental research that involves animal testing.
Each month, we pick the most interesting, groundbreaking, and important news to feature in a monthly news roundup.
View BARN to see daily news updates from UAR members.
CLINICAL TRIALS
Girl’s sight restored after ‘life-changing’ gene therapy
UCL | HUMANS
Gene therapies have been tested extensively in animals before being trialled in human patients.
"A six-year-old girl has had her sight restored thanks to life-changing eye gene therapy for rare blindness involving a team at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
Researchers at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and GOSH have published new evidence showing that treating younger children, like Saffie, who have a rare inherited blindness with the gene therapy, Luxturna (Voretigene Neparvovec), can improve sight and strengthen visual pathways at a critical stage of brain development.
In the largest UK study of its kind, experts followed 15 children who were treated with the gene therapy at GOSH between 2020 and 2023. The promising results have been published in JAMA Ophthalmology."
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/apr/girls-sight-restored-after-life-changing-gene-therapy
BASIC/DISCOVERY RESEARCH
Damage to brain’s white matter may play key role in neurodegenerative disease, and could be target for future treatments
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE | MICE, RATS
"Damage to white matter in the brain can trigger features associated with neurodegenerative disease, Cambridge researchers have discovered in a new study published today in the journal Nature.
Until now, it was thought that neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease were primarily associated with changes to the brain’s grey matter.
This new finding suggests that treatments for neurodegenerative disease should target damage to the brain’s white matter, in addition to grey matter which has been the focus until now."
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10414-w
Scientists find a new way coronaviruses can get into human cells
THE PIRBRIGHT INSTITUTE, UNVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, UNIVERSITY OF YORK, WELLCOME TRUST | BATS
"An international team of researchers has identified an East African bat coronavirus capable of entering human cells. Whilst the virus - Cardioderma cor coronavirus (CcCoV) KY43, or CcCoV-KY43 - can bind to a cell receptor found in the human lung, preliminary testing in Kenya suggests it has not spilled over into the local human population.
Rather than work on ‘live’ viruses, the scientists used a public database of known genetic sequences, Genbank, to select and synthesise alphacoronavirus ‘spike’ proteins, including 27 viruses originally isolated in bats, and screened these against a library of coronavirus receptors found in human cells. Spike proteins protrude from the surface of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and bind to specific receptors on human cells, triggering infection.
Funded largely through UK Research and Innovation’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and Kenya Government’s National Research Fund (NRF), the study brought together UK and Kenyan expertise to show CcCoV-KY43 can bind to the human glycoprotein CEACAM6.
Writing in the journal Nature, the team from The Pirbright Institute, the University of Cambridge, the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, the University of York and the National Museums of Kenya say their findings show alphacoronaviruses (alphaCovs) can use various receptors to enter human cells."
https://www.pirbright.ac.uk/news/scientists-find-new-way-coronaviruses-can-get-human-cells
Mice with respiratory infections could offer insights to help stop cancer spreading
IMPERIAL | MICE
"Studying how mice respond to infection by respiratory viruses may hold the answers to inhibiting the spread of metastatic breast cancer, according to a new study.
New collaborative research from Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute shows that when the immune system is triggered by a respiratory virus it can temporarily make the lungs a more hostile environment for incoming cancer cells.
In an experimental study in mice, they found that this immune response reduced the number of metastatic breast cancer tumours that formed in the lungs."
Silencing stress signals could pave the way to a longer life, study reveals
UNVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD | FRUIT FLIES
"Silencing a major cellular stress signal could be the key to a longer life, according to new University of Sheffield research.
While previous studies suggested that mild stress might help organisms live longer, new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal could turn this theory on its head.
Testing the theory that mild activation of stress via the ISR would increase lifespan in a complex organism for the first time, researchers discovered that suppressing rather than activating the fruit flies' internal stress management system actually extended their lifespan.
By studying tens of thousands of fruit flies, the team found that using genetic tools to ‘turn up’ the ISR - tricking the body into thinking it was under stress - shortened the flies' lives. Conversely, suppressing this signal allowed the flies to live longer, even when facing other challenges such as dietary changes.
These findings run counter to previous studies in simpler organisms, such as yeast and the roundworm C. elegans, where activating stress responses appeared to be beneficial to longevity. Prior work in mice has also implicated active ISR in longevity."
https://sheffield.ac.uk/news/silencing-stress-signals-could-pave-way-longer-life-study-reveals
Space Worms! UK scientists launch microscopic crew into orbit to support future Moon missions
UNVERSITY OF LEICESTER, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER | WORMS (C. ELEGANS)
"British scientists including a team from Space Park Leicester have launched a crew of microscopic worms to the International Space Station in a pioneering experiment that could help unlock the secrets of long-duration space travel — and support ambitions to reach the Moon and beyond.
The project is a miniature space laboratory designed to study how biological organisms respond to the extreme conditions faced by astronauts. It has been led by the University of Exeter, engineered and built by the University of Leicester at Space Park Leicester, and funded by the UK Space Agency.
It follows the launch of NASA's Artemis II mission to send four astronauts on a 10 day journey around the Moon and back ahead of a future mission to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. Scientists believe the project could help provide new insights into how biological systems change in space and hence how astronauts can stay fit and healthy while travelling to and from the Moon, as well as during long-term stays following NASA’s plans to build a base there."
https://le.ac.uk/news/2026/april/space-worms-launch-microscopic-moon-missions
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
Scientists map migratory bird brain
UCL | EURASIAN BLACKCAP
"The researchers mapped the brain of the Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), a songbird that migrates twice a year for up to 6,000 kilometres between Europe and Africa, and uncovered a connection between two brain regions that may be involved in navigating this great distance.
The team from the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre at UCL and the University of Oldenburg, Germany, that created the atlas have published a paper describing it in Current Biology.
The open-source software tools developed, and the detailed processes published, form a foundation for new brain atlases to be built for any species, providing a valuable resource for neuroscience worldwide."
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/apr/scientists-map-migratory-bird-brain
WILDLIFE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
New Study Finds Pesticides Contaminating 100% of UK Garden Birds Tested
UNVERSITY OF SUSSEX | WILD BIRDS
"Research from the University of Sussex out today (21 April 2026) has discovered widespread contamination by pesticides, commonly found in pet flea and tick treatments, in the feathers, eggs and even chicks of wild birds. The two new studies, funded by the conservation charity SongBird Survival, raise urgent questions about the environmental risks posed by veterinary treatments that are applied to millions of UK pets every year.
In the first study, researchers analysed 74 feather samples from five common UK garden birds: blackbirds, blue tits, chaffinches, dunnocks and goldfinches. Every sample contained pesticides, with a high prevalence of chemicals linked to household pet flea treatments, including:
- Imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid) in 88% of samples, banned from plant protection in the EU in 2018
- Fipronil in 72% of samples, banned for agricultural use in the EU since 2014
In addition, chlorpyrifos - a pesticide which has been illegal in the EU since 2020 - was found in 96% of samples, suggesting long-term persistence in UK environments.
The second study tested unhatched eggs and chicks found dead in their nests, screening for 20 pesticides. The majority contained at least one chemical used in pet flea treatments, with fipronil sulfone, fipronil and imidacloprid appearing most frequently.
Researchers have called for further studies to understand more about how these birds are exposed to pesticides, and how this exposure is impacting bird health and welfare."
https://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/70558
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Last edited: 30 April 2026 09:01
