Models
What is an animal model?
Non-human species used in research to mimic aspects of a disease, disorder, or other reaction found in humans.
What is the domestic mouse?
Popular animal model due its small size, calm nature, low cost to house, and ease of genetic manipulation.
What is the Animal Welfare Act?
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates the use of research animal models under this act.
What are warm-blooded vertebrates?
The Animal Welfare Act is designed to regulate the use of only this group of animal models in research, teaching, and testing.
What is genetic engineering?
Process which increases, decreases or removes a gene that is already present in the organism.
What is reduce?
By requiring the number of animals used for research to be justified, fewer are used which is following this R of the 3 R's model.
What is the Norway rat?
The second most widely used animal research model has many of the attributes of mice, but their larger size and more complex body systems makes them useful for research.
What is in-house breeding?
Some researchers develop their own lines of research animals, often mice and rats through this animal husbandry process.
What are livestock (or farm animals)?
This group of animals is regulated only when used for research, not when produced for slaughter or when part of a nutrition, breeding, management, or production efficiency study.
What are transgenes?
These genes are artificially introduced into the genome of another organism.
What is replace?
Over time many animal procedures were eliminated with a shift to other research strategies in accordance with this R of the 3 R's model.
What are zebra fish?
The most common fish used as animal models.
What is a Class A dealer?
This class of animal dealer is licensed by the USDA to breed, raise, and sell animals specifically for research, similar to in-house breeders.
What are laboratory rats and mice?
These two types of rodents make up 95% of all vertebrate animals used in research.
What are non-human primates (NHP)?
Group of animal species includes macaques, monkeys, marmosets, baboons, and chimpanzees that account for less than 0.5% of all animals used in current medical research.
What is refine?
This R, of the 3 R's model, requires more background work and computer modeling to reduce likely variables that may complicate research in animals.
What are the fruit fly and nematode?
This fly and this little known multi-celled "worm" are the two most common insects (yes, insects) used as animal models.
What is a Class B dealer?
This class of animal dealer is licensed by the USDA does not raise their own animals, but acquires them from many different sources.
What are guinea pigs and rabbits?
These two species of rodents were among the first animals used in medical research.
What are "knock out" mice?
Named because of genetic engineering techniques that involve inserting non-mice genes into the mouse genome while deleting others.
What are biochemical and cellular interactions?
Scientists rely on these two types of interactions before moving to research on animal models.
What is saccharomycetales yeast?
The most common single-celled organism used as animal models.
What is the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)?
Registered research institutions must submit an annual report to this agency regarding their use of animal models.
What are dogs and cats?
What is xenotranplantation?
The process of grafting or transplanting organs and tissues between members of different animal species.