Lab mice lifestyles affect research

Monday, June 11, 2012 - 09:30 in Biology & Nature

Laboratory mice are usually housed in open or ventilated cages, and preliminary research suggests these environments can produce remarkably different experiment results in medical research.  Image: sidsnapper/iStockphoto The environment in which laboratory mice are reared can drastically alter the results of experiments and may have major implications for medical research around the world, according to new Australian data presented on 8 June 2012 at a meeting of The International Behavioral Neuroscience Society.Mice have traditionally been housed in open cages where pheromones, chemical cues in urine, and sounds could be exchanged between animals across cages.Modern housing is based on a system of individually ventilated cages that block sounds and micro-filter the air entering each cage.Dr Tim Karl, at Neuroscience Research Australia, is studying the effects of open cages versus individually ventilated cages on the behaviours of genetically altered mice used in schizophrenia research (neuregulin 1 mutant mice).“Our research so far shows that keeping...

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