Our research

We conduct a number of licensed research procedures on animals each year, the majority of which involve mice and rats.

The infographic below shows the number of procedures carried out by the University every year and on what species. 

Research involving animals infographic 2022
Research involving animals infographic 2022

Research involving animals at The University of Manchester 2021 transcript of graphic

Research involving animals carried out at The University of Manchester requiring a Home Office Licence

At The University of Manchester, our research covers a wide spectrum of diseases in the UK including cardiology, stroke, dementia and cancer.

Overview of diseases

Currently:

  • 7.4 million people living with a heart or circulatory disease in the UK (British Heart Foundation)
  • 164,901 deaths from cancer between 2015 and 2017 in the UK (Cancer Research UK)
  • 850,000 people who have dementia (Alzheimer’s Society)
  • More than 100,000 strokes in the UK each year; that is around one stroke every five minutes (Stroke Association)

Overview of animals involved in research

  • 59,688 mice
  • 18,291 mice (Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute)
  • 13,439 zebra fish
  • 2668 rats
  • 723 xenopus
  • 84 sheep
  • 97 African-striped mice
  • 14 gerbils

Figures represent all research involving animals at The University of Manchester carried out under Home Office Licence for 2020.

Find out about our research involving animals in previous years on our data archive page.

Non-technical summaries

We publish all non-technical summaries of current licenses granted to The University of Manchester researchers under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

2019