Rodents News

June 15, 2024

Top Headlines

Researchers Create Realistic Virtual Rodent

June 11, 2024 — To help probe the mystery of how brains control movement, scientists have created a virtual rat with an artificial brain that can move around just like a real rodent. The researchers found that activations in the virtual control network accurately ...

New Antibiotic Kills Pathogenic Bacteria, Spares Healthy Gut Microbes

May 29, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new antibiotic that reduced or eliminated drug-resistant bacterial infections in mouse models of acute pneumonia and sepsis while sparing healthy microbes in the mouse gut. The drug, called lolamicin, also warded off ...

Some Mice May Owe Their Monogamy to a Newly Evolved Type of Cell

May 15, 2024 — What makes the oldfield mouse steadfastly monogamous throughout its life while its closest rodent relatives are promiscuous? The answer may be a previously unknown hormone-generating cell. Scientists discover the cells and hormones that inspire mice ...

Promising New Treatment Strategy for Deadly Flu-Related Brain Disorders

May 2, 2024 — Researchers have found that a brain disorder associated with flu (influenza-associated encephalopathy, or IAE) can be caused by the influenza virus entering the brain from the blood via endothelial cells. In these cells, the researchers observed ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:02pm EDT

Test Reveals Mice Think Like Babies

Apr. 26, 2024 — Are mice clever enough to be strategic? A neuroscientist who studies learning in humans and animals, and who has long worked with mice, wondered why rodents often performed poorly in tests when they ...

With Hybrid Brains, These Mice Smell Like a Rat

Apr. 25, 2024 — Mice lacking an olfactory system have had their sense of smell restored with neurons from rats, the first time scientists have successfully integrated the sensory apparatus of one species into ...

Brainless Memory Makes the Spinal Cord Smarter Than Previously Thought

Apr. 11, 2024 — Researchers have discovered the neural circuitry in the spinal cord that allows brain-independent motor learning. The study found two critical groups of spinal cord neurons, one necessary for new ...

Connecting the Dots to Shape Growth Forces

Mar. 28, 2024 — Branching patterns are prevalent in our natural environment and the human body, such as in the lungs and kidneys. For example, specific genes that express growth factor proteins are known to ...

Secrets of the Naked Mole-Rat: New Study Reveals How Their Unique Metabolism Protects Them from Heart Attacks

Mar. 27, 2024 — This unusual, subterranean mammal with extreme longevity shows genetic adaptations to low oxygen environments which could offer opportunities for ...

Craving Snacks After a Meal? It Might Be Food-Seeking Neurons, Not an Overactive Appetite

Mar. 20, 2024 — Psychologists have discovered a circuit in the brain of mice that makes them crave food and seek it out, even when they are not hungry. When ...

Mice Surprise: Researchers Discover New Native Species

Feb. 22, 2024 — Australia can lay claim to two new species of native rodent thanks to a new study. The aptly named delicate mouse was previously thought to be a single species spanning a massive stretch of the ...

Female Lab Mice Behave Very Differently When Placed Outdoors

Feb. 14, 2024 — A new study has examined social behavior of lab mice in large outdoor ...

A Rare Recent Case of Retrovirus Integration: An Infectious Gibbon Ape Leukaemia Virus Is Colonizing a Rodent's Genome in New Guinea

Feb. 5, 2024 — Retroviruses are viruses that multiply by incorporating their genes into the genome of a host cell. If the infected cell is a germ cell, the ...

Study in Mice Uncovers New Protective Benefit of Breast Milk

Jan. 24, 2024 — An immune component of breast milk known as the complement system shapes the gut environment of infant mice in ways that make them less susceptible to certain disease-causing bacteria, according to a ...

Experiments in Infant Mice Suggest New Way to Prevent Spread of Flu in People

Jan. 11, 2024 — Scientists have long known that some viruses and bacteria begin infections by latching first onto sugar molecules on the surfaces of cells lining the sinuses and throat of mammals, including humans. ...

Measuring Grass Pollen Allergens Instead of Grass Pollen Count Will Help Hay Fever Sufferers

Jan. 8, 2024 — Measuring airborne grass allergen levels instead of pollen counts will be more beneficial for hay fever sufferers as new research shows grass allergen levels are more consistently associated with hay ...

Advancing the Generation of in-Vivo Chimeric Lungs in Mice Using Rat-Derived Stem Cells

Jan. 5, 2024 — Creating a functional lung using interspecies chimeric animals is an attractive albeit challenging option for lung transplantation, requiring more research on the viable conditions needed for organ ...

Mice Possess Natural Gene Therapy System

Dec. 13, 2023 — A previously mysterious small RNA molecule in mice is found to play a crucial role in gene expression, and may be the first identified member of a new class of regulatory ...

What Happens in the Brain While Daydreaming?

Dec. 13, 2023 — During quiet waking, brain activity in mice suggests the animals are daydreaming about a recent image. Having daydreams about a recently viewed image predicted how the brain would respond to the ...

Immersive VR Goggles for Mice Unlock New Potential for Brain Science

Dec. 8, 2023 — New miniature virtual reality (VR) goggles provide more immersive experiences for mice living in laboratory settings. By more faithfully simulating natural environments, the researchers can more ...

Mice Pass the Mirror Test, a Classic Indicator of Self-Recognition

Dec. 5, 2023 — Researchers report that mice display behavior that resembles self-recognition when they see themselves in the mirror. When the researchers marked the foreheads of black-furred mice with a spot of ...

Reading the Mouse Mind from Its Face: New Tool Decodes Neural Activity Using Facial Movements

Nov. 20, 2023 — Facemap uses a mouse's facial movements to predict brain activity, bringing researchers one step closer to understanding brain-wide signals driven by spontaneous ...

Early Life Exposure to Broccoli Sprouts Protects Against Colitis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Nov. 9, 2023 — High fiber diets, like those that include broccoli sprouts or other cruciferous vegetables, may reduce disease symptoms and improve quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease ...

The Fascinating Relationship Between Mice and a Plant That Flowers Once a Century in Terms of Seed Dispersal

Nov. 6, 2023 — Researchers have discovered several factors that affect field mouse behavior using seeds from dwarf bamboo plants, a plant that flowers once in a century. Their findings not only suggest the ...

Rats Have an Imagination, New Research Suggests

Nov. 2, 2023 — Researchers have developed a novel system to probe a rat's thoughts, finding that animals can control their brain activity to imagine remote locations. ...

Research Connecting Gut Bacteria and Oxytocin Provides a New Mechanism for Microbiome-Promoted Health Benefits

Nov. 2, 2023 — Researchers found that the hormone oxytocin, known to be involved in regulating feeding and social behavior and until now to be produced mostly in the brain, is also produced in the human intestine. ...

First Mice Engineered to Survive COVID-19 Like Young, Healthy Humans

Nov. 1, 2023 — Researchers have genetically engineered the first mice that get a human-like form of COVID-19, according to a new ...

Scientists Create Special 'Telomouse' With Human-Like Telomeres

Oct. 31, 2023 — Researchers introduce the 'Telomouse'. By making a subtle genetic alteration in standard lab mice, they've made the mouse telomeres, which protect the chromosome ends, more closely ...

Probiotics Delivered in Biofilm State Protect the Intestines and Brain in NEC Model

Oct. 23, 2023 — Researchers have been working on a novel solution to prevent NEC. They have developed a novel probiotic system that harnesses the durability of biofilms to improve the administration of probiotics to ...

Mummified Mice Discovered Atop Sky-High Andean Volcanoes

Oct. 23, 2023 — Scientists have uncovered 13 mummified cadavers of mice from the summits of Andean volcanoes that stretch nearly 4 miles above sea level. Analyses of the mummies, combined with the capture of ...

Imprinted Genes in the 'Parenting Hub' of the Brain Determine If Mice Are Good Parents

Oct. 19, 2023 — Whether a mouse is a good or bad parent can be traced back to imprinted genes in key neurons in the 'parenting hub' in the brain, according to a new ...

Longevity Gene from Naked Mole Rats Extends Lifespan of Mice

Aug. 23, 2023 — In a groundbreaking endeavor, researchers have successfully transferred a longevity gene from naked mole rats to mice, resulting in improved health and an extension of the mouse's lifespan. The ...

Variable Patient Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Infection Are Mimicked in Genetically Diverse Mice

Aug. 11, 2023 — Researchers have created a panel of genetically diverse mice that accurately model the highly variable human response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The team uncovered differences in the innate immune and ...

'Humanized' Liver in Mice Reveals Roots of Chronic Diseases

Aug. 9, 2023 — Researchers have created a functional 'humanized' liver in living mice that will help scientists find human-specific mechanisms for regulating cholesterol levels and potentially for ...