Choosing the right animal identification method is critical. Loss of identification can render the animal, and the data it would provide, unusable. If the animal becomes unusable, the study will have to be repeated. Proper, secure animal identification is therefore both necessary for good science and part of our ethical imperative to reduce the number of animals we use.

Experimental controls are at the center of every quality experiment, and understanding the causes of microbiome variability is key to controlling for microbiome-related effects. Researchers that utilize murine models attempt to control for possible microbiome variability by ordering mice from the same vendor...

Through this excerpt from Taconic Biosciences' Webinar, "Advanced Toolkit For Syngeneic Tumor Modeling in Mice," Dr. Philip Dubé considers the role of genetic background when identifying the proper syngeneic model as well as the importance of validating substrain and specific cell line. Syngeneic models depend on the implanted tumor cell not being rejected by the immune system