Juan Lerma

The seventh Annual Report of the COSCE Transparency Agreement, prepared by the European Animal Research Association, which analyses transparency in the use of animals for scientific experimentation in Spain in 2023, was presented today. According to the document, transparency is consolidated among the signatory institutions -168 in 2024- and all of them publish a statement on their websites on the use of animals. Public mention of the number and species used stands at 47%, compared to 38% the previous year.

Researchers have presented the first connectome - a diagram of neural connections - of the whole brain of an insect, a vinegar fly larva (Drosophila melanogaster). The work, which the authors say will inspire new studies of neural circuits and machine learning architectures, is published today in Science.

Cerebrospinal fluid provides nutrients and other elements to brain cells. Scientists now show that by obtaining it from young mice and injecting it into the brains of old mice, the latter recover their memory. The effect is attributed to a protein, Fgf17, presented today in Nature as a possible brain rejuvenation factor.