EARA is to hold two free online media training workshops designed for audiences in Poland (6 Dec) and Italy (13 Dec). With the support of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) and Society for Neuroscience (SfN), the workshops follow on from events held earlier in the year that stressed the importance of openness and transparency about animal research. Based on the EARA Communications Handbook, the sessions give tips on how to start talking about animal rese

EARA will take part in a face-to-face discussion on the recent vote by the EU Parliament to end animal research, and its potential impact in Europe, at a major conference in Portugal next month. On 10 December, EARA member, the Portuguese Society of Laboratory Animal Sciences (SPCAL), will address the topic Responsible Research and Innovation in Science in Laboratory Animals, with EARA executive director, Kirk Leech; Adrian Smith of Norway’s 3Rs body Norecopa, and Penny Hawki

Scientists at the EARA member, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Germany, have found how the body, not just the brain, regulates fear (audio story available). Using mice, the team focused on the insular cortex - a brain region that processes both positive and negative emotions – to understand the body-brain interactions on the regulation of emotion. In the findings, in Science, they observed a difference in the behaviour of the mice, depending on how naturally fearful the

Belgian researchers have identified a new target to treat patients with an advanced form of blood cancer, thanks to research in mice and humans. EARA members VIB and KU Leuven, at the Centre for Cancer Biology, Belgium, studied the way a molecule (PlexinA4) found in the central nervous system, controls the immune response of cells following immunotherapy – a type of treatment that helps your immune system fight cancer. In the study, the team found that mice with reduced level

EARA will hold two online media training sessions in December, with the support of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and the Society for Neuroscience. The free workshops, focusing on Poland (6 December) and Italy (13 December), will offer a country-specific overview of current animal research communication, and aim to equip attendees with the tools needed to start communicating about animal research to a wider audience. Based on the EARA Communications Handboo

An article reporting on Covid-19 research at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre, The Netherlands, has won the Silver Award in the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards. In the feature article in the Dutch publication, De Volkskrant, reporter Maartje Bakker followed two rhesus monkeys through Covid-19 vaccine testing, with interviews from researchers, caregivers, and those opposed to animal research. Judges praised her balanced and fair approach to the story, with Sarah Zie

The biomedical community needs to ‘shift the balance’ to talk more about the benefits of using animals in research, EARA executive director, Kirk Leech, told the Spanish scientific community last week (see video 15mins). In a speech at the XVI congress of the Spanish Society for Laboratory Animal Sciences (SECAL), he explained why it is now more important than ever to speak up about animal research, following the recent vote by the European Parliament for a phase-out of anima

Marking the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, The Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, UK, have has highlighted some ways that animal research can boost sustainable farming (see video). In one project, researchers are studying the DNA of microbes in the stomachs of cattle and sheep, to understand if it is possible to reduce the levels of methane, a greenhouse gas closely associated with climate change, and create ‘low-emission cattle’. Another study looks at ways to keep livestock

Using human data, scientists at University of Cambridge, UK, have found that Alzheimer’s progresses in a different way than previously suggested by mice studies. The team used post-mortem brain samples from Alzheimer’s patients, as well as scans from living patients, to track tau - one of two key proteins in the disease. The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, showed that instead of starting from a single point and initiating reactions leading to the death of

Researchers at EARA member the University of Zurich, Switzerland, have found a better way to study kidney disease by using frogs. With the help of gene editing technology known as CRISPR/Cas9, the team were able to manipulate the function of some genes known to be involved in polycystic kidney disease - where large growths appear on the kidney and impair its function, leading to kidney failure. After producing 3D images of the whole frog embryo, the team could then visualise

UK newspaper, The Guardian, has explored some of the common questions about animal research in a new video. Journalist Richard Sprenger visited three animal research laboratories to find out how the animals are used in biomedical, conservational or agricultural research. The video features the MRC Harwell Institute, UK, where Dr Sara Wells, co-ordinator of the mouse genetics projects, answers questions on how mice are used to help improve understanding of diseases that affect

Prizes which recognised three innovations, that reduce the need for animals in research, have been won by scientists from China, the UK and USA. The 2021 winners of the Global 3Rs Awards program, promoted by AAALAC International, an EARA member were: Rachel Tanner of University of Oxford, UK, created a way to evaluate potential tuberculosis vaccine candidates by using blood or cells samples from monkeys, thus reducing the number of animals needed in infection experiments. Wen

Scientists at Imperial College London, UK, have made new discoveries about how heart valves grow and develop (see video). The team, in collaboration with French researchers at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), and the University of Strasbourg, used zebrafish embryos to identify what happens during the development of the valves. The findings, in Science, showed that alongside mechanisms that were already known to generate heart valve tissue, there

A recent article, in the French publication Usbek & Rica, has asked a number of scientists to explain the importance of using monkeys in research on Covid-19 in France. The article explains that a recent search for examples of Covid research using monkeys (non-human primates) showed 747 separate studies had been undertaken. “It is their close genetic proximity to us that makes them so useful," explained immunologist Roger Le Grand, director of IDMIT, a preclinical research ce

After 30 years of research, a therapy has been approved to treat a rare condition that leaves children susceptible to seemingly harmless infections. Congenital athymia, where children born without a thymus gland cannot produce some immune cells in response to infection, results in an average life expectancy of around 2-3 years. Early research at Duke University School of Medicine, USA, conducted in mice, showed that by adding small parts of the thymus tissue into the area whe

Researchers at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, have developed a new gene therapy for a common skin cancer, which accounts for about a quarter of all cancers. Patient trials will start this month, and mark the first time that a gene therapy, first trialled in dogs, has been tested in patients in Europe. The therapy, designed as part of the SmartGene.si project, involves teaching the patient’s cells to boost their immune response by producing more of a substance called i

This Thursday, a leading researcher from Germany will be answering questions on EARA Instagram about his research on motion and movement. Jean Laurens, group leader at EARA member Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, uses marmoset monkeys to study how we sense our own motion, and how we orient ourselves when moving in 3D space. The Q&A initiative, #TransparencyThursday, gives the public an opportunity to find out why it is necess

A Portuguese research institute has been offering outdoor talks for all its staff and students, to find out more about their research. EARA member Instituto Gulbenkian Ciência (IGC), Oeiras, is running both in-person and streamed talks using big screens on its campus, that are free for all members of the institution to come along or join online. “It’s great to see so much enthusiasm as well as a large audience outside and inside,” said Monica Bettencourt-Dias, IGC Director. P

Today, 15 Dutch biomedical organisations have made a significant commitment to openness about the use of animals in research, by signing a Transparency Agreement on Animal Testing. The signatories consist of universities, university medical centres, scientific institutes, companies, and associations and was drafted in collaboration with the European Animal Research Association (EARA) and Stichting Informatie Dierproeven (SID) and inspired by existing transparency agreements f

Researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, have developed brain organoids from patients with a severe condition to improve understanding of the disease. ALS/FTD is a progressive brain disease, causing paralysis and dementia, and affects younger people with the onset usually occurring for patients in their forties. In a study in Nature Neuroscience, the team took stem cells from ALS/FTD patients and grew them into pea-sized organoids which were kept alive for nearly a yea