Reproduction is life’s most basic function, and in some ways also its most mysterious. Researchers working with mice and rats have made several recent reproduction-related breakthroughs, including an in vivo cure for infertility in mice, creating rat sperm from stem cells, discovering that a previously disregarded type of estrogen actually plays a crucial role in the development of offspring, creating male-only or female-only mouse litters, and the birth of a healthy baby mouse from an unfertilized egg.
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Animal warming pads are widely used by pet owners for heat therapy and to improve the general wellbeing of cats, dogs, and small animals at home. These same benefits of using warming pads for animals apply to clinical settings too. Far infrared animal warming pads are particularly beneficial for rodent research, especially in surgical contexts and for post-surgical recovery.
So, what are the benefits of using far infrared animal warming pads in animal research?
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April is National Autism Awareness Month, and researchers worldwide are working to better understand this complex condition.
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Surgical procedures are governed by strict rigorous controls, but the specifics of anesthetic induction are surprisingly nebulous. There are three overarching classes of agent used to induce animal anesthesia: volatile substances; injectables like ketamine; and local anesthetics.
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Laboratory animal science is a staple of biomedical research, contributing to countless breakthroughs in drug discovery and novel therapeutics. It is also ever-changing. Researchers are constantly seeking ways to enhance key protocols with the aim of improving animal welfare and surgical outcomes. One of the main avenues of this initiative is achieving greater visibility of small animal vital signs in real-time.
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As the world begins to emerge from the pandemic and new coronavirus infections are on the decline, many people are still suffering the effects of long-haul COVID, a debilitating set of symptoms that has plagued patients and flummoxed the medical community.
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Routine handling of laboratory mice can improve animal welfare and make them easier to restrain for research procedures. Yet there is conflicting information about the best method of handling and restraint. The conventional technique for handling mice was to grasp them firmly by the base of the tail, but this tail handling method has proven to be aversive. Many studies have shown that capturing and restraining mice by the tail induces anxiety and anhedonia. This not only has a profound impact on the welfare of laboratory animals, but by inhibiting the value of reward, it may also impact the efficacy of scientific studies(1,2).
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While we now have multiple effective vaccines for COVID-19, another longstanding vaccine goal may be getting closer to becoming reality: a universal influenza vaccine.
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Rodents have long been the preferred species of lab animals in biomedical research, with sporadic experiments on common brown rats stemming back 150 years. Though laboratory animal research continues to pose ethical questions, particularly with respect to animal welfare, the scientific achievements linked to lab rats are innumerous. This primarily relates to the extraordinary anatomical, genetic, and physiological similarities between humans and rodents. Yet there are many additional reasons beyond human and animal similarity why the so-called wild Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus, is such a perfect candidate for research communities.
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Anesthesia vaporizers are used for administering volatile anesthetics. They must deliver a reliable and safe concentration of the agent to the receiver in a controllable manner. This article discusses the key elements that are important when selecting a vaporizer to use with rodent subjects.
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Welcome to the KentConnects blog, where we provide tips, best practices, examples, and more helpful information to improve your processes, boost your efficiency, and make your lab work smarter and safer.