LABORATORY ANIMAL SCIENCE
March 2023
LUMC biomedical sciences MS
,Contents
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................2
1. Animal models....................................................................................................................................3
a. Choosing the right animal model....................................................................................................3
b. Colony management (part 1: housing and care).............................................................................5
c. Nutrition..........................................................................................................................................6
d. Behaviour, Welfare and Humane Endpoints...................................................................................7
e. diseases in lab animals..................................................................................................................11
f. Non-human primates in biomedical research...............................................................................16
2. Procedures........................................................................................................................................18
a. Anatomy and necropsy.................................................................................................................18
b. Surgical techniques.......................................................................................................................18
c. Analgesia.......................................................................................................................................20
d. Anesthesia....................................................................................................................................21
e. Administration of substances, Collection of body fluids & Euthanasia in laboratory animals......23
3. Genetics............................................................................................................................................26
a. Genetics........................................................................................................................................26
b. Colony management (part 2: breeding ).......................................................................................28
c. Transgenic and knock-out animals................................................................................................31
d. Stem cells......................................................................................................................................34
4. Legislation.........................................................................................................................................35
a. Legislation and ethical review and project license........................................................................35
b. Ethics............................................................................................................................................38
c. Chemical-, biological and radiation safety in animal experiments................................................39
d. Reproducibility crisis.....................................................................................................................41
5. Statistics............................................................................................................................................41
a. Statistics in Animal Science...........................................................................................................41
,1. Introduction
Animal experiments NL: ~450,000 (40,000 without prior handling)
Most commonly used for fundamental, translational and legally required tox and safety testing
Value of animals
Intrinsic value: The value that that thing has “in itself, ” or “for its own sake, ” or “as such, ” or “in its
own right.”
Integrity: the wholeness and completeness of the animal and the species-specific balance of the
creature, as well as the animal’s capacity to sustain itself independently in an environment suitable
to the species.
Descartes: "Since animals have no possibility for reasoning, they have no perception of pain. So, the
reactions to stimuli that cause pain to the human being, in animals, are nothing more than
automated reflexes."
Kant: "Animals are there merely as a means to an end. That end is man." Anthropocentrism the
philosophical viewpoint arguing that human beings are the central or most significant entities in the
world, and animals exist to serve their purposes
Bentham: “The question is not, can they reason logically? Nor can they talk? But can they suffer?”
Peter singer: ”Equals should be treated equally. What characteristics are morally relevant? Not
rationality or language … Only capacity to suffer / enjoy.”
Speciesism Discrimination solely based on belonging to a specific species. Only ability to
suffer/enjoy is relevant
Marginal case argument Humans with lowered capacities and/or consciousness and/or
who do not have an image of the future, the marginal cases, have direct moral status. Hence,
animals must have a similar status.
TPI: transition proevdiervrij innovation find alternatives to animal models
, 1. Animal models
a. Choosing the right animal model
Animal experiments NL: ~450,000 (40,000 without prior handling)
Animals are most commonly used in:
Fundamental/basic research
Translational research
Education and training
Legally required testing (safety for human use)
The art of science is to pose the right question to the right model.
Know the strengths and weaknesses of each model --> be careful of overpromising results when the
model is not the right fit
3Rs
Replacement
o Avoiding or replacing the use of animals in areas where they otherwise would have
been used
o Accelerating the development and use of predictive robust models and tools, based
on the lasting science and technologies to address important scientific questions
without the use of animals
Reduction
o Minimize the number of animals used consistent with scientific aims
o Appropriately design and analyze animal experiments that are robust and
reproducible and truly add to the knowledge base, with the least animals possible
Refinement
o Minimizing the pain suffering, distress or lasting harm that research animals might
experience
o Advancing research animal welfare by exploiting the latest in vivo technologies and
by improving understanding of the impact of welfare on scientific outcomes
Why use animals at all?
Current animal alternatives do not come close to the complexity of human bodily systems
Advances on alternative methods have not progressed enough to be able to replace animal
research in foreseeable future
One can do things with animals that one cannot with humans
Fundamental research questions on aspects of an animal species (research on species for
that species)
Choosing a model
Researchers have a tendency to use models they are familiar with or are easily available rather than
the best model for their research question, which can lead to poor reproducibility and translatability.
Model availability, or lack of in-house resources may limit what can be used. However, this does not
justify the use of a model that does not fit the research question. Non- animal Technologies are
March 2023
LUMC biomedical sciences MS
,Contents
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................2
1. Animal models....................................................................................................................................3
a. Choosing the right animal model....................................................................................................3
b. Colony management (part 1: housing and care).............................................................................5
c. Nutrition..........................................................................................................................................6
d. Behaviour, Welfare and Humane Endpoints...................................................................................7
e. diseases in lab animals..................................................................................................................11
f. Non-human primates in biomedical research...............................................................................16
2. Procedures........................................................................................................................................18
a. Anatomy and necropsy.................................................................................................................18
b. Surgical techniques.......................................................................................................................18
c. Analgesia.......................................................................................................................................20
d. Anesthesia....................................................................................................................................21
e. Administration of substances, Collection of body fluids & Euthanasia in laboratory animals......23
3. Genetics............................................................................................................................................26
a. Genetics........................................................................................................................................26
b. Colony management (part 2: breeding ).......................................................................................28
c. Transgenic and knock-out animals................................................................................................31
d. Stem cells......................................................................................................................................34
4. Legislation.........................................................................................................................................35
a. Legislation and ethical review and project license........................................................................35
b. Ethics............................................................................................................................................38
c. Chemical-, biological and radiation safety in animal experiments................................................39
d. Reproducibility crisis.....................................................................................................................41
5. Statistics............................................................................................................................................41
a. Statistics in Animal Science...........................................................................................................41
,1. Introduction
Animal experiments NL: ~450,000 (40,000 without prior handling)
Most commonly used for fundamental, translational and legally required tox and safety testing
Value of animals
Intrinsic value: The value that that thing has “in itself, ” or “for its own sake, ” or “as such, ” or “in its
own right.”
Integrity: the wholeness and completeness of the animal and the species-specific balance of the
creature, as well as the animal’s capacity to sustain itself independently in an environment suitable
to the species.
Descartes: "Since animals have no possibility for reasoning, they have no perception of pain. So, the
reactions to stimuli that cause pain to the human being, in animals, are nothing more than
automated reflexes."
Kant: "Animals are there merely as a means to an end. That end is man." Anthropocentrism the
philosophical viewpoint arguing that human beings are the central or most significant entities in the
world, and animals exist to serve their purposes
Bentham: “The question is not, can they reason logically? Nor can they talk? But can they suffer?”
Peter singer: ”Equals should be treated equally. What characteristics are morally relevant? Not
rationality or language … Only capacity to suffer / enjoy.”
Speciesism Discrimination solely based on belonging to a specific species. Only ability to
suffer/enjoy is relevant
Marginal case argument Humans with lowered capacities and/or consciousness and/or
who do not have an image of the future, the marginal cases, have direct moral status. Hence,
animals must have a similar status.
TPI: transition proevdiervrij innovation find alternatives to animal models
, 1. Animal models
a. Choosing the right animal model
Animal experiments NL: ~450,000 (40,000 without prior handling)
Animals are most commonly used in:
Fundamental/basic research
Translational research
Education and training
Legally required testing (safety for human use)
The art of science is to pose the right question to the right model.
Know the strengths and weaknesses of each model --> be careful of overpromising results when the
model is not the right fit
3Rs
Replacement
o Avoiding or replacing the use of animals in areas where they otherwise would have
been used
o Accelerating the development and use of predictive robust models and tools, based
on the lasting science and technologies to address important scientific questions
without the use of animals
Reduction
o Minimize the number of animals used consistent with scientific aims
o Appropriately design and analyze animal experiments that are robust and
reproducible and truly add to the knowledge base, with the least animals possible
Refinement
o Minimizing the pain suffering, distress or lasting harm that research animals might
experience
o Advancing research animal welfare by exploiting the latest in vivo technologies and
by improving understanding of the impact of welfare on scientific outcomes
Why use animals at all?
Current animal alternatives do not come close to the complexity of human bodily systems
Advances on alternative methods have not progressed enough to be able to replace animal
research in foreseeable future
One can do things with animals that one cannot with humans
Fundamental research questions on aspects of an animal species (research on species for
that species)
Choosing a model
Researchers have a tendency to use models they are familiar with or are easily available rather than
the best model for their research question, which can lead to poor reproducibility and translatability.
Model availability, or lack of in-house resources may limit what can be used. However, this does not
justify the use of a model that does not fit the research question. Non- animal Technologies are
