3 Minute 3Rs November 2018

It's the November episode of 3-Minute 3Rs, brought to you by Lab Animal (www.nature.com/laban), the NC3Rs (www.nc3rs.org.uk) & the North American 3Rs Collaborative (www.na3rsc.org)The papers behind the pod:1. Sixteen diverse laboratory mouse reference genomes define strain-specific haplotypes and novel functional loci. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-018-0223-82. Effects of Cage Enrichment on Behavior, Welfare and Outcome Variability in Female Mice https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00232/full3. Effects of Music Enrichment on Individually Housed Male New Zealand White Rabbits. https://doi.org/10.30802/AALAS-JAALAS-17-000153Transcript:[NC3Rs] When the complete mouse genome sequence was first published 16 years ago, it was a breakthrough that sped up many scientific discoveries and improved our understanding of genetics. But, given the large collection and variety of mouse strains available, it is very important to recognise and understand the differences between them. This new study by Lilue et al, published in Nature Genetics, strives to do just that. Collaborators from 21 institutes produced draft genome reference sequences, from scratch, for 16 of the most widely used inbred mouse strains. They found extensive strain-specific variation, particularly in regions impacting immune response, sensory function, sexual reproduction and behaviour. This is a powerful resource for mouse genetics that will help scientists appreciate, for instance, why mouse strains respond differently when studying their immune system or behaviour. I personally really liked this work because even though the 3Rs might not have been the authors’ primary motive, the outcomes will have important 3Rs implications, giving researchers cause to more carefully consider which strain or model they choose to answer their experimental question, and avoiding the wastage of animals. The genomes can be freely accessed and analysed online. To find out more, visit the link in the description. [LA] ...Different countries have different husbandry standards, and questions linger among researchers about whether that environmental variability can lead to experimental variability too. For the past five years, Hanno Wurbel at the U. of Bern... has been systematically assessing lab mouse husbandry standards. Earlier in the year, he and his colleagues reported on cage sizes. In their latest work, they’ve turned their attention to cage enrichment. Working with female inbred C57BL6 and outbred SWISS mice, they tested a variety of outcomes across four enrichment levels, from cages with only bedding to highly enriched, semi-naturalistic ones with lots of vertical height and structures for the mice to interact with. Measures of welfare increased with greater enrichment, with no evidence of increased variation in experimental results. Read the full report in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, and then give some more thought to giving your mice some more structure.[NA3RC] The beneficial effect of music has been shown across a variety species and is often used as a form of enrichment for rabbits in the laboratory setting, but is it really music to their ears? Species-specific music is based on the theory that music with a tempo that matches an animal’s internal circadian rhythms, brain waves, heart rate and respiration can promote relaxation. In a study by Jessica Peveler and Debra Hickman in the November issue of JAALAS, the effect of commercially available music for rabbits was evaluated. Older male rabbits were exposed to music enrichment for 6 months. A decrease in the stress hormone, cortisol, was seen when music was provided, with cortisol returning to baseline levels after the music was removed. These findings suggest that commercially available music can decrease stress and be used as a refinement to improve well-being of rabbits used in biomedical research. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.