rats

After years of work, conservationists have successfully eliminated two invasive rat species from the Tetiaroa Atoll in French Polynesia.

Researchers report they were able to make functional sperm in a dish, a feat previously only possible for mice.

Making specific alterations to the bacterial population in a rat’s lungs either better protects the animals against multiple sclerosis–like symptoms or makes them more vulnerable, a study finds—the first demonstration of a lung-brain axis.

Researchers studying rats claim to have found a novel connection between damage on one side of the brain and problems with the posture or movement of limbs on the opposite side of the body.

RNA-DNA complexes that were modified with cholesterol made it into the brains of rats and mice, where they knocked down target genes.

The Australian biomedical research community is stunned by the announced wind-down of the country’s biggest supplier of mice and rats.

A combination of two drugs appears to restore cartilage in rats.

A study in rats finds that tiny doses of the psychedelic drug DMT may yield positive effects for anxiety and depression, but there could be downsides too.

Isotope changes in the bones demonstrate a similar pattern across far-flung islands.

A study shows that by killing off seabirds on islands, rodents slash the flow of nutrients into the ocean.

Researchers created a nanofibrous scaffold to see how it supports cell growth.

Researchers identify the Lord Howe Island stick insect on the remains of a large volcano in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.

Researchers may have pinpointed the part of the brain that makes rats laugh when tickled.

Researchers short circuit the urge to consume alcohol in rat models of compulsive drinking by shutting down specific neurons wired to the brain’s reward system.

Exposing male rats to nonionizing radiation increased the animals’ risk of brain and heart tumors in a study, but the findings are far from conclusive.

A round-up of recent discoveries in behavior research

Researchers find Oriental rat fleas, the insects that can carry plague bacteria, on New York City-dwelling rodents.

Are mice, considered by some to be the less intelligent rodent, edging out rats as laboratory models of decision making?