EARA Newsletter

June 30th 2025

EARA News Digest 2025 - Week 27

Welcome to your Monday morning update, from EARA, on the latest news in biomedical science, policy and openness on animal research.

This week: Annual reports show continued transparency in Portugal and Belgium; Mice and monkeys share revealing facial expressions; Stem cell therapy for blood cancer tested in mice and humans; Immunological drug found to increase longevity in eight species.

Annual reports show continued transparency in Portugal and Belgium

The 2024 annual reports from the Transparency Agreements in Portugal and Belgium, just published, show continued progress in openness and transparency around animal research.

In Portugal, the signatories reported increased public engagement, with 93% publishing position statements on their websites and 81% using social media. Highlights included the first Open Week on Animal Research and the organisation of the first Patient Discovery Day in Portugal.

Belgium’s third report shows signatories improving communication, with more publishing non-technical summaries, statistics and offering access to facilities. Over 60% of signatories now provide media training to staff.

Despite the progress, both reports highlight persistent challenges, including resource limitations, internal hesitancy and the need for greater transparency about statistics and summaries.

The agreements are part of a growing network of national transparency initiatives across Europe, now active in eight countries.

The press releases for Portugal and Belgium can also be read in Portuguese, French and Flemish, respectively.

Mice and monkeys share revealing facial expressions

Research from Germany has discovered that facial expressions in mice and macaques can be used to measure cognitive states and understand thought processes — a potential breakthrough for brain research.

Scientists at EARA member Ernst Strüngmann Institute designed a virtual reality environment and had macaques and mice perform a natural task — searching for food — which is largely influenced by internal cognitive states such as attention and motivation.

The researchers recorded the animals’ facial expressions and used a statistical model and computer simulations to identify expressions that could accurately predict when the animals would respond to challenges and how well they would solve the search task.

They found that each cognitive state corresponded to a specific facial expression identified in both mice and macaques. “This means that facial expressions can be considered a reliable manifestation of internal cognitive states even across species boundaries,” said Alejandro Tlaie Boria, first author of the study published in Nature Communications.

After investigating if this also occurs in humans, these findings could become relevant for applications in psychiatry and in autism and dementia research, for example, to recognise latent cognitive states in non-verbal individuals or for improving ADHD diagnostics.

Stem cell therapy for blood cancer tested in mice and humans

A new treatment, developed in Canada, could offer a stem cell treatment option for blood cancer patients unable to find a matching donor.

Patients with cancers such as leukaemia or lymphoma, which affect the blood or immune system, often rely on stem cell transplants to replace damaged blood-forming cells. These transplants typically require a close match, either from a family member or a donor registry. When patients are unable to find a match, umbilical cord blood can be used, but most stored samples of cord blood do not contain enough stem cells for adult patients.

This treatment, Zemcelpro, was developed by ExCellThera/Cordex Biologics Inc. to increase the number of stem cells in cord blood samples before they are transplanted. In mice, the expanded stem cells successfully went to the bone marrow and produced healthy human blood cells.

In recent clinical studies, most adult patients with blood cancers treated with Zemcelpro showed early signs of recovery. Within 20 days, 84% of patients began producing white blood cells, and after 40 days 68% regained production of platelets, cells essential for blood clotting and stopping bleeding.

Zemcelpro has not yet received full approval, but European Medicines Agency experts have recommended its use in patients with blood cancers with no matching donors and requiring stem cell treatment.

Immunological drug found to increase longevity in eight species

Researchers in the United Kingdom have discovered a drug that could have the same life-extending effect as eating less, potentially guiding new approaches to improving human health and lifespan.

Dietary restriction has long been regarded as one of the most reliable methods for extending lifespan across species, yet it poses a significant challenge to maintaining it over the long term.

Researchers from the Universities of East Anglia and the University of Glasgow found that rapamycin, a drug initially developed as an immunosuppressant – used to lower the immune system defences - and currently being used in human trials, has comparable life-extending benefits in eight species of vertebrates, not including humans.

The team analysed 167 studies of lifespan across eight vertebrate species, including fish, mice, rats and primates and investigated the effect of dietary restriction on longevity, as well as the effects of rapamycin and metformin, both of which have been indicated as life-extending drugs.

Rapamycin, but not metformin, extended the lifespan in the tested animals in a way comparable to eating less.