No, scientists have not created mice that “think like humans”. It’s actually way better than that. 🧠🐭 Researchers at Stanford transplanted human cortical organoids into mice engineered to lack most of their own cortex. 1/5

EARA@eara.eu · 2d ago

Human tissue grows in mouse brains 🧠 🐁 Researchers from Stanford University transplanted human brain tissue into mice, creating a new way to study human brain development and disease. 🔗 www.eara.eu/news/human-t... #NAM #organoid #mice #AnimalResearch #Brain

A better animal model sometimes starts with a better map of its biology. 🧬🐒 The first complete marmoset genome revealed variation in genes also linked to Alzheimer's in humans. Understanding the genetics more precisely can also help us understand what they can and cannot tell us about disease.

EARA@eara.eu · 3w ago

Complete #MarmosetGenome opens new avenues for #Alzheimer's #research 🐒🧬 Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have released the first complete common #MarmosetGenome, revealing variation in #genes linked to Alzheimer's in #humans such as #PSEN1. Learn more: 🔗 www.eara.eu/news/complet... #Alzheimers

Knowing something can be rewarding in itself. Apparently, even for mice. 🐭🧠 Mice sometimes gave up some water just to receive information about what would happen next. Researchers also found the brain represented the value of information separately from the water reward itself. #AnimalResearch

Curiosity has its own neural signal: Brain separates valuable information from water rewards in mice

Often, humans and other animals seek information that can help them complete tasks and attain desired rewards. In some cases, however, they seek information driven simply by curiosity and a desire to ...

medicalxpress.com

Turns out, Syrax isn't only found in Westeros. 🐉🦎 Scientists discovered a new mountain horned dragon in Thailand and named it Acanthosaura syrax after Rhaenyra's dragon. Yellowish, small and surprisingly prolific at laying eggs: the resemblance wasn't just in the name. #Biodiversity #Taxonomy

Scientists discover a real-life “dragon” and name it after Syrax

Scientists discovered a small, yellowish mountain horned dragon in Thailand and named it Acanthosaura syrax after a dragon from House of the Dragon. Found only in a narrow band of high-elevation fores...

sciencedaily.com

Good news for coffee drinkers? Perhaps. But don't order another espresso just yet. ☕ A study linked higher coffee intake with less body fat, more muscle and healthier metabolic markers. But association ≠ causation. Researchers are now looking to investigate the biology behind those links in animals.

Coffee drinkers have less fat, more muscle, and surprising hormone differences

Coffee drinkers may be getting more than an energy boost. A Finnish study found that people who drank more coffee tended to have less total and abdominal fat, more muscle, and healthier metabolic mark...

sciencedaily.com

Dogs don't see all our emotional expressions in the same way. 🐶🧠 Brain scans showed dogs clearly distinguished human fear from sadness and anger, while happiness produced the strongest response. Thousands of years living alongside us may have shaped how dogs process our social signals. #Dogs

EARA@eara.eu · 4w ago

#Dogs distinguish many #HumanEmotions 🐕 A study from the University of Vienna and EARA member Eötvös Loránd University found that dogs' brains can tell apart human #happiness, #anger, #sadness and #fear from facial expressions. Learn more: 🔗 shorturl.at/y6QYy

We often ask scientists to communicate more openly about animal research. But are we giving them the conditions to do it? A review identified barriers including limited training and support, fear of hostility and increasingly polarised public debate. Openness requires institutional support 👍

EARA@eara.eu · 4w ago

#Study identifies #barriers to communicating about #AnimalResearch 🗣️ Researchers at the University of Göttingen reviewed 65 academic documents and found seven types of #barriers, warning against assuming that the #public itself is the problem. Learn more: 🔗 www.eara.eu/news/study-i...

Usually don’t use social media anymore for personal stuff but we just lost one of the best humans this world has ever seen. Not only was Dolly a true legend and rule breaker of music, she was a true philanthropist, always had queer people in her heart and financed the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. 💔🕊️

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 4w ago

Dolly Parton, US country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80

What if deep brain stimulation could work without implanted electrodes? 🧠🧲 Researchers injected tiny magnetic particles into the brains of mice and activated them with an external magnetic field. In mice with Parkinson's-like symptoms, stimulation significantly improved movement. #Parkinsons

EARA@eara.eu · 4w ago

Magnetic #nanoparticles improve #Parkinson's symptoms in #mice 🧲 Researchers at @fau.de developed injectable #MagneticParticles that stimulate #brain cells via an external #MagneticField. Mice with Parkinson's-like symptoms showed significant improvement in movement. Learn more: 🔗 shorturl.at/DBcVz

As we age, our bodies seem to prioritise stability over walking efficiency🚶🧠 Researchers found older adults stiffen the ankle by activating opposing muscles together. It can make each step safer, but also slower and more tiring. A fascinating trade-off between stability and efficiency #Biomechanics

Scientists reveal why walking gets so much harder with age

As we age, the body appears to sacrifice walking efficiency in exchange for stability. Older adults stiffen the ankle more with each step, which may help prevent falls but also forces the muscles to w...

sciencedaily.com

Can scientists communicate their work without becoming targets? This question reaches far beyond one country. Public trust isn't built by asking people to "trust science". It's built through openness, transparency and honest conversations about how science actually works. #ScienceCommunication

Why are biomedical scientists being vilified? | Opinion - AOL

Protect those scientists who provide the underlying research that can continue furthering progress toward lifesaving preventions and treatments

aol.com

Can a fibre found in baker's yeast help the immune system fight cancer? 🍞🧬 In obese mice, beta-glucan changed how immune cells developed in bone marrow and restored their response to tumours. Not a cancer treatment, but an intriguing link between diet, metabolism and cancer immunity. #AnimalResearch

EARA@eara.eu · last mo.

Baker's yeast improves #ImmuneResponse to #cancer in #mice. 🐁 @tcddublin.bsky.social and @ucddublin.bsky.social found beta-glucan from baker's yeast restored obese mice's ability to fight #tumours. Learn more: 🔗 www.eara.eu/news/bakers-...

Could growing up with a dog help train a baby's immune system? 🐶👶 Researchers found specific dog-associated microbes in homes were linked to fewer respiratory infections and antibiotics during babies' first year. Another fascinating clue about how our early microbial environment shapes immunity.

Early dog exposure may protect babies from infections through home microbes

Children who have been in contact with dogs in early childhood are, on average, healthier and require fewer courses of antibiotics than children without such contact. The protective association is exp...

medicalxpress.com

What if a wound dressing didn't add healing molecules... but activated the ones already in your body? 🩹 Researchers developed a biomaterial that boosted wound repair in rats, mice and lab-grown human skin by activating the body's own repair proteins. #RegenerativeMedicine #Biomaterials #Science

EARA@eara.eu · last mo.

Researchers @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social have developed a wound dressing that accelerates healing by using the body’s own repair proteins, improving wound healing in mice and enhancing tissue repair in lab-grown human skin. 🔗 www.eara.eu/news/biologi... #WoundHealing #Mice #AnimalResearch #NAMs

What if excessive sweating doesn't always start in the sweat glands? 🥵 Researchers linked some hereditary forms of the condition to mutations affecting nerve signalling when, in mice, existing drugs that block nerve cell signals reduced excessive sweating. #Genetics #AnimalResearch

EARA@eara.eu · 2mo ago

Researchers from the EARA member Free University Brussels (VUB), in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, using #mice and #patient samples, have discovered a #genetic cause for excessive #sweating. 🔗 www.eara.eu/news/study-i... #Hyperhidrosis #AnimalResearch

What if the world's oceans are quietly entering a new ecological era? 🌊 Using AI to analyse 1.2 million satellite images, researchers at @usf.edu found floating algae are expanding across much of the global ocean, revealing changes that are only visible at planetary scale. #MarineBiology #Science

AI reveals a massive algae boom across the world’s oceans

An AI analysis of 1.2 million satellite images shows that floating algae blooms are spreading across the global ocean. The rapid growth of massive seaweed mats could reshape marine habitats while brin...

sciencedaily.com

Can the same diet protect one organ but increase cancer risk in another? 🥘 In mice, researchers found that a ketogenic diet had very noxious effects in the small intestine, different from the previously reported benefits in the large intestine, highlighting the complexity of metabolism. #Keto

EARA@eara.eu · 2mo ago

#KetoDiet leads to small #IntestineCancer in #mice 🐭 @mit.edu researchers found that mice genetically predisposed to intestinal cancer, fed a ketogenic diet, developed as many or more #tumours than mice on an obesity-inducing diet. Learn more: 🔗 shorturl.at/9AxQa

What if ageing doesn't remove one of our muscle repair signals, it just makes it less effective? 💪 Researchers identified a compound that helped protect and strengthen a key muscle regeneration signal, with promising early results in mice. #HealthyAgeing #MuscleBiology #Science

Scientists find compound that may help muscles stay strong as we age

Skeletal muscle is one of the first tissues to decline with age. This decline can lead to weakness, scarring, fat accumulation inside muscle and the loss of fast-twitch muscle fibers that are importan...

medicalxpress.com

Working with laboratory animals can be emotionally challenging 🧑‍🔬 A Nature article highlights practical advice for early-career researchers and reminds us that empathy isn't a weakness, it is part of responsible animal research. #AnimalResearch #ResearchCulture #MentalHealth

EARA@eara.eu · 2mo ago

A @nature.com article gathered advice from 3 #scientists for early-career #PhD students on managing the stress of working with #mice and other #ResearchAnimals – including tips on connecting with others, self-care and allowing for a range of feelings. Learn more: 🔗

What if access to nature was treated as part of healthcare? 🌳 A new paper argues that regular time in nature should be considered public health infrastructure, not just recreation, helping reduce anxiety, depression and burnout while improving wellbeing. An idea worth discussing. #MentalHealth

Nature-based mental health care is worth the investment, researchers say

A new study underlines the annual AU$7 trillion (US$5 trillion) value of nature in mental health benefits and is calling for urgent government action to expand access to nature as a frontline response...

medicalxpress.com

Great to host EARA–ICLAS webinar with speakers from Mauritius, Brazil, India, Japan and Canada. 🌍 Different contexts, different challenges, but a shared goal: building public trust through better communication, openness and transparency. Check it out: www.eara.eu/news/eara-ho... #AnimalResearch

There is something deeply ironic about this article. Published by PCRM — an organisation whose mission is to end animal research — it is an advocacy piece, not a balanced review of the evidence. It then uses science fiction to make its scientific case. 1/6

Some geckos naturally develop aggressive cancers that spread throughout the body. 🦎 By studying these spontaneous tumours, researchers identified genetic changes linked to cancer that are also relevant across other species, including humans. #CancerResearch #AnimalResearch #Science

Do fish and humans make sense of the world in the same way? 🐟🧠 Zebrafish and mammals use different brain regions to combine sensory information, but researchers found they follow the same basic strategy. 400+ million years of separate evolution. Different brains. Similar solution. #AnimalResearch

EARA@eara.eu · 2mo ago

#Zebrafish and #humans use the same strategy to make sense of the world 🧠 Researchers in Norway @kavlintnu.bsky.social found that zebrafish combine sensory information like #mammals do, suggesting this brain function evolved independently in different species. Learn more: 🔗

Turns out, photographing weird creatures and uploading them to the internet can help solve evolutionary mysteries 📸 @inaturalist.bsky.social observations more than doubled known records of parental care in harvestmen arachnids, helping researchers reconstruct how maternal and paternal care evolved.

Spider-like creatures help uncover the surprising origins of fatherhood

Citizen scientists have helped researchers solve a long-standing mystery about how parental care evolved in harvestmen. Using photos and observations from iNaturalist, scientists more than doubled the...

sciencedaily.com

Do video games actually sharpen the brain? 🎮🧠 A meta-analysis of 133 studies suggests they might, with small but consistent cognitive benefits, especially for memory. Gaming won't make you a genius, but saving kingdoms or solving puzzles isn't such a bad workout for the brain. Back to my Zelda now 🧝

Video games might modestly sharpen your memory and other cognitive skills, review suggests

Because video games are a regular part of many people's everyday lives, researchers have spent a lot of time trying to determine whether they are beneficial or detrimental to brain health. A new study...

medicalxpress.com

Can one tiny genetic change help a virus jump from bats to humans? 🦇🦠 Researchers found that changing a single amino acid altered how a coronavirus interacted with the immune system, helping explain why some viruses stay in bats while others can infect people. Small change. Big consequences #Science

EARA@eara.eu · 2mo ago

Single genetic change may help #bat #viruses infect #humans 🦇 Researchers at the @qbi-ucsf.bsky.socialand @icahnmountsinai.bsky.socialand found that changing one amino acid in a coronavirus protein altered how the virus interacted with bat and human immune systems. Learn more: 🔗 shorturl.at/RotZE

A great discussion yesterday at #FENS2026 on how patient engagement can strengthen neuroscience research. Patients don't just want to hear about science. They want to help shape it. Really pleased to share @eara.eu 's work on the Patient Discovery Project alongside researchers and patient advocates.

Emmanuel Procyk from EU-Simia is joining #BOARD26 to promote understanding of how animal research and other approaches complement each other. #BOARD #EARA #SCICOMM

Aayush Bagale from the Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal is joining #BOARD26 to promote understanding of how animal research and other approaches complement each other. #BOARD #EARA #SCICOMM