Breeding of laboratory mice for biomedical research
Maša SKELIN, Marjan RUPNIK, Marko VOLK
pp. 33-40
Mice are because of their genetic similarity to humans, short reproductive cycle, short life span, small size and relatively low cost of maintenance one of the most frequently used animal models for biomedical research. Despite the dominant trend in reducing the number of animals used in biomedical research, we should not ignore the fact that many of the medical benefits have been discovered through the work on laboratory animals. It has been widely accepted that animal experimentation should be performed only when no alternative is available, and given that all measures are taken to preserve the welfare of laboratory animals and minimize discomfort. Mice are nocturnal, burrowing, climbing and social animals with anatomical and physiological characteristics of rodents. Mice are usually breed and housed in polycarbonate cages, preferably in ventilated racks. The present review describes husbandry and mice handling which allows normal behaviour, feeding, breeding and growth. We suggest a possibility to reduce the number of animals needed in the research of Diabetes mellitus by using freshly prepared pancreatic slices. This is a novel isolated tissue preparation for electrophysiological and imaging studies on beta cells and other cell types in the pancreas and other tissues.
Key word: mouse breeding, husbandry, animal welfare, identification
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