ANIMAL RESEARCH NEWS - SEPTEMBER 2026
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: basic biological research; 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.
BASIC/DISCOVERY RESEARCH
First complete connectome of male fly central nervous system allows for unprecedented male-female brain comparison
MRC LMB | FRUIT FLIES
"The male fly CNS connectome, one of the most comprehensive neural wiring diagrams ever assembled, reveals how divergent, sex-specific behaviours are rooted in a small portion of neurons.
This connectome provides two critical advances to the study of the brain: it is the largest whole-brain connectome to date, including the first fly brain and nerve cord connected through an intact neck, allowing end to end studies of behaviour from eyes to legs. It is also the first example of a male brain. Previous work from the group had mapped the female Drosophila brain, so this new connectome has enabled the first brain-wide, synaptic-resolution comparison across sexes of an adult animal with complex anatomy and behaviours.
They discovered that neural sex differences are not evenly distributed across the nervous system. Whilst sensory and motor neurons are largely shared between male and female fly brains, they found that sex-specific (present in only one sex) and sexually dimorphic (present in both sexes but presenting differently) neurons are concentrated in higher-order brain regions associated with decision making and behavioural control. Here, these neurons form dense, interconnected hubs which reroute sensory information into sex-specific behavioural circuits to drive distinct male and female responses to the same stimuli."
Could Earth’s magnetic field influence how we age?
UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM | FRUIT FLIES
"The Earth’s magnetic field may influence how cells produce energy, physical performance and even lifespan, according to new research from the University of Nottingham.
In a study using fruit flies, researchers found that shielding flies from the Earth’s magnetic field altered mitochondrial function, lifespan and physical performance - with strikingly different effects depending on the health of the flies’ mitochondria. The findings, published in the journal Aging, offer new insight into how this invisible environmental force may interact with fundamental biological processes, with potential implications for our understanding of ageing and neurodegenerative disease.
"We live our entire lives within the Earth’s magnetic field. It passes through our bodies, our cells and every living organism on the planet, yet we know surprisingly little about whether and how this invisible force affects the way our cells work. Our results raise the intriguing possibility that the Earth’s magnetic field forms part of the biological environment to which life has adapted throughout evolution. Understanding how cells sense and respond to magnetic fields could ultimately reveal new ways of manipulating mitochondrial function in ageing and disease.” - Professor Lisa Chakrabarti from the School of Veterinary Medicine & Science, and study author"
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/could-earths-magnetic-field-influence-how-we-age
Hidden immune cells may hold key to tackling female infertility
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER | MICE, HUMANS
"University of Manchester scientists have uncovered a hidden role for immune cells in the womb, opening the door to new treatments for infertility, miscarriage and other reproductive conditions that affect millions of women worldwide.
The findings are a breakthrough in our understanding of women's reproductive biology, one of the most under-researched areas of medicine, despite infertility and pregnancy complications affecting millions of families.
Using mouse models and samples from women, specialised white blood cells called monocytes, they found, play a vital role in keeping the uterus healthy throughout the menstrual cycle. Their findings, published in Nature Immunology today, reveal that these cells manage inflammation, repair tissue and maintain the womb lining, challenging long-held assumptions about how the uterus regulates itself. They showed that during a healthy menstrual cycle, large numbers of monocytes move from the bloodstream into the uterus at specific times each month. Once there, they are able to promote inflammation when needed or help repair and rebuild tissue."
Brain defence system originates in the gut
MRC LMB | MICE
"The brain may appear separate from the rest of the body, but it is far from isolated. Surrounding the brain are the meninges, protective membranes containing an extensive network of blood vessels connecting it to wider circulation, alongside a diverse community of immune cells. In particular, the outermost membrane, the dura mater, sits at the interface between the bloodstream and the brain, allowing immune cells to monitor for potential threats while also providing a possible route for microbes to reach the central nervous system (CNS). Although the brain has mechanisms to defend itself against blood-borne infections, it is less clear how infections elsewhere in the body influence this immune environment, how long-term immune defence is established and what impact this may have on brain health. To investigate this, Menna Clatworthy’s group in the University of Cambridge’s Molecular Immunity Unit, housed at the LMB, used mouse models to study how intestinal infection influences the immune connection between the gut and brain."
https://mrclmb.ac.uk/news-events/articles/brain-defence-system-originates-in-the-gut/
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR AND WELFARE
Where the mind points before the body follows
SAINSBURY WELLCOME CENTRE | RATS
"Twelve years ago, Professors John O’Keefe, Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of the brain’s ‘inner GPS’ - place and grid cells. These cells allow us to build a map of, and navigate through, the world around us. Now, new research from Neil Burgess, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at UCL and O’Keefe, Group Leader at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre at UCL, has shown how these cells not only represent the animal’s current location, but also locations it is interested in.
Their work, published in Nature Neuroscience, focuses on the role of ‘theta sweeps’ – the rapid, rhythmical firing patterns of neurons in the brain. Ten times a second, place and grid cells fire in a specific sequence. They first pinpoint the animal’s current location and then the way ahead. Until now, the function of these sweeps has been debated.
The work, led by Dr Changmin Yu at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, includes an analysis of neural activity data from animals traversing through a maze, trying to reach a rewarded location – with a total of 137,651 theta sweeps. The team found that theta sweeps form a key part of the ‘cognitive map’, encoding the direction of the animal’s goal, independent of what it senses or where it is moving."
https://www.sainsburywellcome.org/research-news/where-mind-points-body-follows
Nine lives and counting: Feline ageing study marks nine years with new clinical trial
UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL | CATS
"The University of Liverpool’s Cat Prospective Ageing and Welfare Study (CatPAWS), which follows a cohort of pet cats from their middle-age years and into later life, is celebrating more than nine years of improving the health and welfare of cats over seven years of age. Over the last nine years, 243 cats have been recruited, the oldest of which is Pou Pou who is now over 18 years old.
Now, the clinic is recruiting for its first randomised controlled trial to determine the effect of a nutritional intervention on ageing. Owners of eligible cats who are enrolled will receive complimentary cat food for the 12-month trial period, in addition to complimentary gold standard veterinary health screening at their appointments.
Latest findings advance understanding of feline ageing
CatPAWS’ most recent findings, published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, examined patterns of disease development and mortality in the first 209 cats, with key findings including:
- Almost all cats (96%) developed at least one age-related health problem during the time they were followed up (2017 to 2024).
- ‘Multimorbidity’, the development of more than one chronic disease in the same cat, was common, with 84% of the cats developing two or more chronic conditions.
- The most common conditions were dental disease (84%), orthopaedic abnormalities (82%) and heart murmurs (59%).
- Multimorbidity increased steadily with age, demonstrating that ageing affects multiple body systems rather than individual diseases in isolation.
- Cats with mild muscle loss in middle age had approximately twice the risk of death compared with cats with normal muscle condition.
- Pedigree cats had approximately double the mortality risk of mixed-breed cats.
- The findings suggest that healthy ageing interventions should begin in middle age, before obvious illness develops.
Researchers find potential new route to faster IBV poultry vaccines
THE PIRBRIGHT INSTITUTE | POULTRY
"Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have identified a promising new route to develop faster, more adaptable vaccines against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), one of the poultry industry's most economically significant diseases.
Researchers have shown that a protein from an attenuated laboratory strain of IBV can both weaken highly pathogenic virus strains and enable them to be grown in cell culture, a breakthrough that could reduce reliance on embryonated hens' eggs for vaccine production and accelerate responses to emerging variants."
https://www.pirbright.ac.uk/news/researchers-find-potential-new-route-faster-ibv-poultry-vaccines
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION RESEARCH
New study reveals bats originated in Europe and rewrites the bat family tree
UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS | BATS
"New groundbreaking research from the University of St Andrews has created the largest combined bat genome and fossil study ever undertaken, finding that bats most likely originated in Europe around 65 million years ago, before spreading across the world.
The work also reveals that echolocation, like flight, evolved near the dawn of bat evolution, and lays the groundwork for research into the genetic basis of bats’ exceptional longevity and disease resistance, with potential relevance to human health."
REGULATION AND GUIDANCE
Rethinking the project licence application and assessment processes to maximise 3Rs impacts
NC3RS | POLICY
"New recommendations from the NC3Rs to improve both animal welfare and regulatory efficiency in the project licence application and assessment process."
Read the full report here: https://nc3rs.org.uk/who-we-are/our-reports-and-reviews#pplreport
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Last edited: 24 September 2026 10:21
