Welcome to Laboratory Animal Research

The development of new refinement strategies for laboratory mice is a challenging task that contributes towards fulfilling the 3R principle. This protocol introduces clicker training as a cognitive enrichment program for laboratory mice.

Training protocols involving positive reinforcement for routine husbandry procedures in rabbits were developed and proved to be successful, as the rabbits reliably showed the trained behaviors at the weekly general examination. Picking the rabbits up with the transport box was less aversive than the conventional handling technique.

This article describes various procedures for screening rats and mice to detect endo- or ectoparasitism. Several diagnostic assays will be demonstrated, both those suitable for use on live animals and those used after euthanasia of the animal. Photographs to aid in identification of rat and mouse parasites will be...

Computer-generated stimuli using the Jacky dragon as a...

Among all the organelles in an animal cell, only mitochondria have their own independent genomes. Animal mitochondrial DNA is a double-stranded, closed-circular molecule with around 20,000 base pairs. Mitochondrial DNA is unique in that one of its two strands, the heavy, or H, -strand is guanine rich, whereas the complementary strand is cytosine rich and called the light, or L, -strand. Compared to nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA has a very low percentage of non-coding regions and is marked by...

The tonicity of a solution determines if a cell gains or loses water in that solution. The tonicity depends on the permeability of the cell membrane for different solutes and the concentration of nonpenetrating solutes in the solution within and outside of the cell. If a semipermeable membrane hinders the passage of some solutes but allows water to follow its concentration gradient, water moves from the side with low osmolarity (i.e., less solute) to the side with higher osmolarity (i.e.,...