Members of the University of Washington Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee filed a lawsuit seeking protection after being subjected to threats and hate-filled rhetoric from animal-rights activists. "There has been a long and despicable history of harassment and intimidation tactics committed against employees of institutions who engage in humane and ethical animal research," said FBR President Matthew R. Bailey in announcing the lawsuit. "IACUC members and researchers who work with animal models are as deeply committed to animal care as they are to advancing life-saving research," Bailey said.

A mucosally delivered, non-replicating recombinant adenovirus vector vaccine containing a Wuhan variant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antigen induced significant cross-reactive immune responses against not only the Wuhan variant but also the Beta, Gamma and Delta variants in cynomolgus macaque monkeys. The Wuhan-specific version was the most effective of three vaccine candidates tested and was chosen for further development, the researchers reported in a paper on bioRxiv before peer review.

Wild animals would be unable to survive long if they developed dementia, but chimpanzees do develop both tau protein tangles and amyloid beta plaques that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease in people. The gray mouse lemur's brain also changes with age in some of the same ways the human brain does, and because they also naturally express amyloid beta and tau proteins, they are natural models for Alzheimer's disease research, says Fabien Pifferi, who studies lemurs at the French National Center for Scientific Research.

Roseolovirus is common herpesvirus that usually causes mild, short-lived illness in children, but the virus can lie dormant and might trigger some autoimmune diseases. Studies with mice revealed the virus can infect the thymus, allowing defective T cells to circulate and antibodies against endogenous proteins to proliferate, researchers reported in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

A dog in Chicago that had signs of respiratory illness tested positive for a SARS-CoV-2 infection likely transmitted by someone who took care of him over the New Year's holiday, says the dog's veterinarian, Drew Sullivan. When the dog's clinical signs did not improve, Dr. Sullivan had him tested by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Veterinary Medicine, and the National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the diagnosis.

The genomic profile of a divergent SARS-CoV-2 lineage found in a person in Canada with COVID-19 closely resembles that of a variant found in hunted deer in the same area, suggesting that the person may have caught the virus from deer, according to a study posted on bioRxiv prior to peer review. Researchers found no other evidence of deer-to-human transmission, and they say the person had had contact with deer, and the lineage does not appear to be capable of evading vaccine-induced immunity.

A pet cat in the Philadelphia area whose owner had COVID-19 was found to be infected with the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 with a genomic sequence nearly identical to that of the variant circulating in local people at the time, researchers reported in Viruses. The virus was detected in fecal samples from the cat but not in nasal swabs, highlighting the importance of taking multiple types of samples, says veterinarian and senior author Elizabeth Lennon.

The NIH ordered a National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity review of biosecurity policies to determine how to regulate gain-of-function and dual use experiments involving potentially dangerous pathogens. Research involving pathogens is vital to US security and public health, particularly to study the zoonoses associated with SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses. However, it also presents high risk, so the NIH review will ensure the right biosecurity measures are in place.

Early in 2020, Riti Sharan worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week in biocontainment safety level 3 labs at Texas Biomedical Research Institute to develop animal models of people with COVID-19 so scientists could test the safety and efficacy of therapeutics and vaccines, including Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine and Regeneron's monoclonal antibody cocktail. Sharan's work has not slowed, but she has been able to resume pre-pandemic studies on the interaction between tuberculosis and HIV.

Watch the latest episode in FBR's miniseries "The Role of Animals in Biomedical Research" to learn more about these small yet mighty creatures. Please leave a comment on YouTube to let us know what you think. Watch and share.

FBR Real Pet Stories™ has the purr-fect story for you -- Ruppert's story! We hope the heartwarming tale of love for animals and adoption from a research facility fills your heart with delight. Meet Ruppert.

The brains of monkeys and mice could hold answers about how to best treat common human mental health illnesses such as anxiety and depression. There is hope to further unlock medical mysteries. FBR extends a big thank you to Drs. Robert Wurtz and Angela Roberts for their scientific expertise and contributions to this Unlocking Medical Miracles article. Read more.