Understanding Animal Research

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We exist to provide the public with clear, scientific information about the role of animals in medical, scientific and veterinary research.

28/10/2026

What if scientists could switch brain cells on and off using light? That's exactly what the winners of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine helped make possible.

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel have been awarded the prize for developing optogenetics, a technique that allows scientists to control the activity of specific nerve cells using light.

The discovery began with light-sensitive proteins found in green algae. Through research involving frog eggs, hamster cells, rats and mice, scientists developed a way to make nerve cells respond to light.

In 2007, researchers used the technique to activate neurons in living mice, controlling the movement of their whiskers. Later experiments even showed that activating particular neurons could trigger fear memories in mice.

Today, optogenetics is transforming our understanding of how the brain controls everything from memory and behaviour to pain and emotion. It could also help researchers develop new treatments for conditions including blindness, depression and Parkinson's disease.

🔗 Read the full article here: https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/shedding-light-on-the-living-brain-the-2026-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine

27/10/2026

Not everything you hear about animal research is true...

Take a look at a common myth around animal testing and the facts behind it.

26/10/2026

A few years ago, several countries were close to eliminating measles. Today, outbreaks are increasing again, largely because vaccination rates have fallen.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases in the world. Before vaccines, it infected almost every child and could lead to serious complications including pneumonia, brain inflammation and long-term disability.

Developing a vaccine capable of preventing measles took decades of research. Scientists first needed to understand how the virus infects the body and how the immune system responds. Animal research played a key role in this process, from early studies in monkeys that helped identify the measles virus over a century ago, to the development of the first live attenuated vaccine in the 1960s using a virus grown in chicken embryo cells. Animal models have continued to help researchers improve vaccines and confirm their safety before human trials.

Since 1974, measles vaccination is estimated to have saved 94 million lives worldwide.

Researchers continue to develop next-generation vaccines, including needle-free options and for people who cannot receive live vaccines, bringing us closer to making measles a disease of the past.

📖 Read the full article here: https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/is-the-measles-vaccine-safe

23/10/2026

Could Earth's magnetic field influence how our cells age? New research in fruit flies suggests it might. Scientists at the University of Nottingham investigated what happens when fruit flies are shielded from Earth's magnetic field.

They found that removing this normally ever-present environmental influence affected mitochondrial function, physical performance and lifespan. Interestingly, the effects differed depending on the health of the flies' mitochondria, the structures responsible for producing much of the energy cells need.

💡 Why is this interesting?
We know that factors such as diet, genetics and physical activity can influence ageing. But could an invisible environmental force that has surrounded life throughout evolution also play a role? Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with ageing and several neurodegenerative diseases. Understanding whether and how magnetic fields influence these structures could reveal previously overlooked factors affecting cellular health, and potentially new ways of studying mitochondrial function in disease. The findings are preliminary and do not establish that Earth's magnetic field affects ageing in humans.

🪰 Animal research
Researchers used fruit flies to investigate how changes in magnetic field exposure affect the functioning of an entire living organism. By studying flies with different levels of mitochondrial health, they could examine how magnetic field exposure interacted with cellular energy production, physical performance and lifespan.

🔗 Read more: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/could-earths-magnetic-field-influence-how-we-age

21/10/2026

October is .

Breast cancer research has transformed the outlook for millions of people, with advances in early detection, targeted therapies and treatments helping more people survive the disease.

Animal research has played an important role in this progress, helping scientists understand how breast cancer develops and spreads, and contributing to the development of treatments such as trastuzumab (Herceptin), which targets HER2-positive breast cancer.

But there is still more to do. Researchers continue to investigate why some cancers resist treatment, how to prevent recurrence and how to develop more effective therapies.

16/10/2026

Scientists have mapped the complete central nervous system of a male fruit fly, revealing how small differences in brain wiring can produce very different behaviours. Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) created one of the most comprehensive neural wiring diagrams ever assembled, connecting the brain and nerve cord through an intact neck.

By comparing this new map with an existing female fruit fly connectome, scientists discovered that most sensory and motor neurons are shared between the sexes. Many of the differences are concentrated in higher-order brain regions responsible for decision-making and behavioural control.

💡 Why is this interesting?
Male and female animals can respond very differently to the same sights, smells and other sensory information. But how can largely similar nervous systems produce different behaviours? This research suggests that relatively small groups of specialised neurons can redirect information through different circuits, helping explain how sex-specific behaviours emerge. Understanding these fundamental principles could provide broader insights into how neural circuits control behaviour.

🪰 Animal research
Fruit flies (Drosophila) are widely used in neuroscience because their nervous systems are relatively small but still support complex behaviours. By mapping individual neurons and their connections across the entire male central nervous system, researchers could compare male and female neural circuits at an new level of detail.

🔗 Read more: https://mrclmb.ac.uk/news-events/articles/first-complete-connectome-of-male-fly-central-nervous-system-allows-for-unprecedented-male-female-brain-comparison/

14/10/2026

When most mammals are injured, the body rapidly repairs the damage by forming scar tissue. This protects the wound, but also limits the ability to regenerate the structures that have been lost.

In a 2026 study, researchers found a way to redirect this healing response in mice.

Following the amputation of a digit, a two-stage treatment changed the behaviour of cells already present at the injury site. Instead of progressing towards scar formation, these cells formed a blastema-like structure, similar to the structures involved in regeneration in animals such as salamanders.

The mice went on to regenerate all the major structures that had been removed, including bone, joints, ligaments and tendons. The regenerated digit was not a perfect anatomical copy of the original, but importantly, the process did not require external stem cells.

The findings suggest that mammals may retain regenerative mechanisms that are normally inactive during wound healing.

Complete limb regeneration in humans remains a distant goal, but understanding how healing can be shifted away from scarring and towards regeneration could have nearer-term applications for reducing scarring and improving tissue repair following injury.

🔗 Read more: https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/unlocking-the-power-of-limb-regeneration-with-mouse-models

13/10/2026

Not everything you hear about animal research is true...

Take a look at a common myth around the use of mice in animal testing and the facts behind it.

12/10/2026

🏅 The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded last week!

Congratulations to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel, recognised for their pioneering discoveries in optogenetics, a technique that allows scientists to switch nerve cells on and off using light.

Their groundbreaking work, which involved research using mice and frog egg cells, has transformed our understanding of how the brain works and opened new possibilities for studying neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Explore our infographic to see how animal research has contributed to Nobel Prize-winning breakthroughs over the years.

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