Kent Connects
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.
A Roundup of COVID-19 Vaccines Currently in Development
With the number of COVID-19 cases approaching 16 million worldwide, the entire research world is focused on finding a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Many companies are testing antiviral drugs that could help treat people who have already been infected with COVID-19 by hindering the virus’s ability to...
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The Gender Factor: How Diseases Affect Men and Women Differently
One of the most interesting things scientists have discovered about COVID-19 is that men seem to be more susceptible to the virus, and to suffer more serious symptoms.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), men have accounted for 63% of COVID-19 deaths in Europe, and Chinese researchers say 70% of...
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How antibodies work and why they’re important
How antibodies work and why they’re important
What they tell us now about protection, immune escape, and next-gen countermeasures—and why preclinical rigor decides what’s real
Antibodies are central to how we evaluate protection, immune escape, and next-gen countermeasures — and much of that work still depends on rigorous preclinical models. That’s why...
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The Role of Animal Research in the History of Vaccine Development
As scientists across the world race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, animal research is playing a key role, as it has with the development of many other vaccines in history.
Research with mice, rats, and other animals has enabled scientists to develop vaccines...
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Scientists Use Mouse Studies to Learn More About (and Potentially Reverse) the Aging Process
For as long as modern humans have existed, they have been trying to find a “fountain of youth” to slow or reverse the aging process—both to enable humans to live longer and to fight the diseases and degeneration associated with advanced age. Recent mouse studies show that scientists are getting...
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Researchers Discover New Cancer-Fighting Uses for Common Substances
February is National Cancer Prevention Month, and scientists continue to make important discoveries to prevent, understand, and treat cancer. Recently, researchers have been able to use common substances and compounds including the flu shot, salt, copper, aspirin, and bitter melon extract to fight cancer in mouse models.
Scientists Use Salt to...
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Numerous Mouse Studies Point to Diet as Key to Understanding and Preventing Disease
On January 1, millions of people resolved to eat better. In fact, according to a survey by YouGov, eating healthier was the most frequently made New Year’s resolution. But paying more attention to diet can do more than help you lose weight and feel better—according to several new mouse studies,...
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As Government Funding for Scientific Research Continues to Fall, Private Endowment is on the Rise
Successful medical, preclinical, and scientific research requires adequate funding for facilities, supplies, and personnel. Many researchers get grants from the government, but over the last few years, as the government is spending less and less on the science sector, non-governmental sources have been funding a larger percentage of the research...
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The Evolution of Neuroscience
The work of scientists and researchers in the field of neuroscience—the study of the structure or function of the nervous system and brain—has produced important knowledge about the brain and nervous system and made medical breakthroughs that significantly improve human health.
Though the brain was identified as the source of intelligence...
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Researchers Working with Mice May Finally Find a Cure for the Common Cold
The cold is the most common known infectious illness, with Americans getting an estimated 1 billion colds every year.
Colds are difficult to prevent and treat, and so far have been impossible to cure. After hundreds of years of accepting colds as an unavoidable nuisance best treated with chicken soup and...
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How the Environment Affects Disease
The concept of “One Health,” which was adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009 and will be the theme of the 2019 AALAS National Meeting, is focused on the idea that the environment plays a key role in human disease.
The planet continues to undergo serious and...
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What is One Health and Why It Is Important for Scientific Research?
John Donne said that no man is an island, and while he expressed that sentiment almost 400 years ago, it’s even more true today. In fact, while Donne meant to suggest that humans need to be part of a community to thrive, these days the idea is being taken even...
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Multiple New Research Focused on Microbiome as Scientists Look to the Gut for Answers
Researchers working with animal models traditionally look at the brain, but recent studies are increasingly focused on a different area—the gut, or microbiome, which is emerging as an important factor in human health.
It’s a fertile area of study: The human gut is home to more than 500 different types of...
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International Standards for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
All over the world, animal models are used in pre-clinical research to learn more about how the body works, and to identify causes and develop treatments and cures for disorders and diseases. While global research goals may be similar, there are significant differences between standards for pre-clinical research with animals...
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How Providing the Right Lab Environment for Research Mice Can Improve Experimental Results
How important is the comfort and “happiness” of the mice we use in research? Providing laboratory animals a comfortable, safe, and enriching environment that gives them a way to play and act in accordance with their natural instincts is more than kindness; multiple studies show that it actually makes them...
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Mice vs Rats Research: Anesthesia, Monitoring, and Warming Setup Differences
Mice vs Rats in Research: What Changes in Your Anesthesia, Monitoring, and Warming Setup?
TL;DR
While mice and rats are both “rodents,” they don’t behave the same under anesthesia, they don’t lose heat the same way, and they don’t tolerate handling the same way. Those differences show up as workflow friction, inconsistent...
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Building a Better Research Mouse
For the past 100 years, mice have been the primary model for biomedical research. Not only are they easy to keep and reproduce, mice have significant similarities to humans both genetically and physiologically.
With genetic manipulation, scientists have been able to create mouse models for many human diseases and conditions, enabling...
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What You Need for A Well-Equipped Research Lab
TL;DR A well-equipped research lab for mice/rats isn’t the one with the most gear—it’s the one with a stable, repeatable workflow. Prioritize anesthesia + scavenging, warming and temperature monitoring, physiological monitoring, ventilation when protocols demand it, non-invasive blood pressure (when needed), and a consistent surgical station with proper instrument cleaning/sterilization....
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Finding Grants and Funding for Clinical Research
Research requires money, and finding the funds you need to support your research is a fact of life for most clinical researchers.
Fortunately there are many sources of funding available, including research grants, awards, fellowships, cooperatives, and other types of funding.
While there are many websites and organizations dedicated to finding funding...
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The Most Significant Animal Research-Based Scientific Breakthroughs of 2018
Animal models have been used in biomedical research for hundreds of years, and clinical research using mice and rats has led to some of the most important scientific breakthroughs in 2018.
Aging
Is it possible to reverse the aging process? Several different research teams are making progress. In March, researchers at Harvard...
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Important Note: The content on this blog is general educational material. It is not a protocol, regulatory guidance, veterinary recommendation, clinical directive, or safety instruction for any specific laboratory, study, animal model, institution, species, procedure, or equipment configuration.
Do not apply any information from this blog to your research without first independently confirming that it is appropriate for your specific protocol, species, model, equipment configuration, firmware version, institutional requirements, IACUC or ethical review approvals, safety policies, and applicable regulations. To the extent any content on this blog addresses Kent Scientific or other specific products, it does not replace, modify, or supplement the official User Manual or product labeling for those products.
Kent Scientific assumes no liability for any outcome resulting from reliance on blog content. Every research environment is different, and the suitability of any approach described here for your specific circumstances can only be determined by qualified personnel with knowledge of your particular setup, protocol, and regulatory obligations. Always consult your institutional veterinarian, IACUC, facility leadership, safety officer, and official product documentation before implementing any change to your procedures.