ILAR Journal

Laboratory registration codes, also known as laboratory codes or lab codes, are a key element in standardized laboratory animal and genetic nomenclature. As such they are critical to accurate scientific communication and to research reproducibility and integrity. The original committee on Mouse Genetic Nomenclature published nomenclature conventions for mice genetics in 1940, and then conventions for inbred strains in 1952. Unique designations were needed, and have been in use since the 1950s, for the sources of animals and substrains, for the laboratories that identified new alleles or mutations, and then for developers of transgenes and induced mutations...

The Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) was created within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) in 1953 when biomedical research using animals was in its infancy in terms of quantity, quality, complexity, sophistication, and care. Over the intervening 69 years, ILAR has witnessed unprecedented growth, followed by unprecedented decline, and then regrowth in usage of specific species and models and an overall shift in experimental burden away from larger to smaller species (ie, mice, fish, and rats)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

In accordance with the «Aims of ICLA» (ICLA Bulletin No. 26, March 1970) the Governing Board established in 1969 a Working Party to prepare an International Nomenclature System for Outbred Animals. The members were: Professor, Dr. A. Spiegel, Federal Republic of Germany, chairman.Dr. M. Festing, United KingdomDr. K. Kondo, JapanDr. R. Loosli, SwitzerlandMr. S. Poiley, U.S.A. The nomenclature rules, completed and approved by the ICLA Governing Board on 8 December 1971, are published herewith. I am convinced that this system will bring order out of the existing chaos...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The Animal Care Panel is a nonprofit educational association of individuals and institutions concerned with the production, care, and study of laboratory animals. The entire United States and several foreign countries are represented in its membership. The Panel provides for the exchange of scientific information on all phases of laboratory animal care. It compiles and distributes information on films dealing with the handling of laboratory animals, and has initiated an animal technicians' training program...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

With the possible exception of inbred mice, the identification of laboratory animals has been in a state of anarchy until very recently. In a letter to the editor of LABORATORY ANIMAL CARE (19: 121-123, 1969), Mr. Samuel Poiley outlined the general principles of a system of nomenclature being developed by the Committee on Nomenclature of the ILAR. This journal requires that authors use standard terminology for rats and mice as listed in the ILAR publication ANIMALS FOR RESEARCH. We welcome the following report which represents a system of nomenclature for outbred animals and publish it as a service to the scientific community...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The organization and function of the institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) is the key component of government regulation and oversight of necessary scientific research using live animals and of AAALAC - International accreditation of animal care and use programs in the United States. The regulations, roles, and responsibilities of IACUCs have evolved since their inception 35 years ago from a limited focus on animal welfare and specific animal procedures to embracing scientific quality, data reproducibility and translation, and animal welfare as inextricably interdependent and critical components of generation of new scientific knowledge and medical treatments...

Animal studies in pharmaceutical drug discovery are common in preclinical research for compound evaluation before progression into human clinical trials. However, high rates of drug development attrition have prompted concerns regarding animal models and their predictive translatability to the clinic. To improve the characterization and evaluation of animal models for their translational relevance, the authors developed a tool to transparently reflect key features of a model that may be considered in both the application of the model but also the likelihood of successful translation of the outcomes to human patients...

ICLAS Laboratory Animal Quality Network (LAQN) programs currently consist of the Performance Evaluation Program (PEP), which focuses on microbial monitoring by and for laboratory animal diagnostic laboratories, and the Genetic Reference Monitoring Program (GENRef), which provides assay-ready reference DNA for genetic testing of mouse strains. Since 2008, PEP has grown to become a truly international program with participating laboratories in 5 continents. Launched in 2016, GENRef currently distributes DNA from 12 common inbred mouse strains for use in genetic monitoring of locally inbred colonies as well as for genetic testing of stocks, particularly genetically engineered stocks, of uncertain origins...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

In silico predictions combined with in vitro, in vivo, and in situ observations collectively suggest that mouse adaptation of the severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 virus requires an aromatic substitution in position 501 or position 498 (but not both) of the spike protein's receptor binding domain. This effect could be enhanced by mutations in positions 417, 484, and 493 (especially K417N, E484K, Q493K, and Q493R), and to a lesser extent by mutations in positions 486 and 499 (such as F486L and P499T). Such enhancements, due to more favorable binding interactions with residues on the complementary angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 interface, are, however, unlikely to sustain mouse infectivity on their own based on theoretical and experimental evidence to date...

The study of many arthropod-borne pathogens requires high biosafety considerations, including the use of specialized facilities and equipment for arthropod containment. Mosquito- and tick-borne viruses such as yellow fever, West Nile, and Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses require facilities that are suitable for housing vertebrates. Multidisciplinary studies that incorporate the vector, vertebrate, and pathogens are essential for a complete understanding of the interactions between these transmission cycle components, especially if they aim to evaluate and model relative susceptibilities of different arthropods and vertebrates to infection and transmission between these...

Animals are valuable resources in biomedical research in investigations of biological processes, disease pathogenesis, therapeutic interventions, safety, toxicity, and carcinogenicity. Interpretation of data from animals requires knowledge not only of the processes or diseases (pathophysiology) under study but also recognition of spontaneous conditions and background lesions (pathology) that can influence or confound the study results. Species, strain/stock, sex, age, anatomy, physiology, spontaneous diseases (noninfectious and infectious), and neoplasia impact experimental results and interpretation as well as animal welfare...

Clinical pathology testing for investigative or biomedical research and for preclinical toxicity and safety assessment in laboratory animals is a distinct specialty requiring an understanding of species specific and other influential variables on results and interpretation. This review of clinical pathology principles and testing recommendations in laboratory animal species aims to provide a useful resource for researchers, veterinary specialists, toxicologists, and clinical or anatomic pathologists.

There is an art and science to performing mouse anesthesia, which is a significant component to animal research. Frequently, anesthesia is one vital step of many over the course of a research project spanning weeks, months, or beyond. It is critical to perform anesthesia according to the approved research protocol using appropriately handled and administered pharmaceutical-grade compounds whenever possible. Sufficient documentation of the anesthetic event and procedure should also be performed to meet the legal, ethical, and research reproducibility obligations...