Thanks to animal models, our knowledge of biology and medicine has increased enormously over the past decades, leading to significant breakthroughs that have had a direct impact on the prevention, management and treatment of a wide array of diseases.This book presents a comprehensive reference that reflects the latest scientific research being done in a variety of medical and biological fields utilizing animal models. Chapters on Drosophila, rat, pig, rabbit, and other animal models reflect frontier research in neurology, psychiatry, cardiology, musculoskeletal disorders, reproduction, chronic diseases, epidemiology, and pain and inflammation management. Animal Models in Medicine and Biology offers scientists, clinicians, researchers and students invaluable insights into a wide range of issues at the forefront of medical and biological progress.

The use of experimental animals is quite common in medical research, especially for pharmaceutical developments and molecular pathway studies. Considering the effects of therapeutic agents used in the treatment of tissues and systems, it becomes clear how important experimental animals and the models developed on them are in research. The benefits of using animals for disease models include accessibility, applicability, and affordability. Most importantly, they have proven to be successful in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of many diseases. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the use of animal models for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, hepatotoxicity, liver fibrosis/cirrhosis, visceral hyperalgesia, female reproduction, and more.

The crucial role of animal models in biomedical research calls for philosophical investigation of how and whether knowledge about human diseases can be gained by studying other species. This Element delves into the selection and construction of animal models to serve as preclinical substitutes for human patients. It explores the multifaceted roles animal models fulfil in translational research and how the boundaries between humans and animals are negotiated in this process. The book also covers persistent translational challenges that have sparked debates across scientific, philosophical, and public arenas regarding the limitations and future of animal models. Among the are persistent tensions between standardization and variation in medicine, as well as between strategies aiming to reduce and recapitulate biological complexity. Finally, the book examines the prospects of replacing animal models with animal-free methods. The Element demonstrates why animal modeling should be of interest to philosophers, social scientists, and scientists alike.

The surface of the human body and its mucous membranes are heavily colonized by microorganisms. Our understanding of the contributions that complex microbial communities make to health and disease is advancing rapidly. Most microbiome research to date has focused on the mouse as a model organism for delineating the mechanisms that shape the assembly and dynamic operations of microbial communities. However, the mouse is not a perfect surrogate for studying different aspects of the microbiome and how it responds to various environmental and host stimuli, and as a result, researchers have been conducting microbiome studies in other animals. To examine the different animal models researchers employ in microbiome studies and to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of each of these model organisms as they relate to human and nonhuman health and disease, the Roundtable on Science and Welfare in Laboratory Animal Use of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop in December 2016. The workshop participants explored how to improve the depth and breadth of analysis of microbial communities using various model organisms, the challenges of standardization and biological variability that are inherent in gnotobiotic animal-based research, the predictability and translatability of preclinical studies to humans, and strategies for expanding the infrastructure and tools for conducting studies in these types of models. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Building upon the success of the Handbook of Laboratory Animal Science and completing Volumes I and II of the Second Edition, Handbook of Laboratory Animal Science, Second Edition: Animal Models, Volume III provides the final component to present a comprehensive overview of animal models in biomedical research.As with Volume II, this new volume add

Based on results from the past ten years, this ready reference systematically describes how to prepare, carry out, and evaluate animal studies for cancer therapies, addressing the widely recognized lack of reliable and reproducible results. Following a short historical introduction and a discussion of the ethics surrounding animal experiments, the book describes correct study design as well as the handling and housing of animals. It then goes on to describe the animal models available for different cancer types, from natural cancer models in mice and dogs to humanized animals. An evaluation of previously unpublished long-term data from the Swiss canine and feline cancer registry is also included. The final part of the book reviews the lessons learned over the last decade on how to interpret data from animal studies for improving human therapy and gives recommendations for future drug development.

Radiophannaceuticals labeled with short-lived radionuclides are utilized to unravel biochemical processes, and to diagnosis and treat diseases of the living body are-developed through extensive evaluation in ~iological models. 'fhC first attempt to compile information was a volume entitled ANIMAL MODELS IN RADIOTRACER DESIGN that was edited by William C. Eckelman and myself in 1983. The volume had a focus on the animal models that investigators were using in order to design radiotracers that displayed in vivo selectivity as measured by biodistribution and pharmacokinetic studies. A concern in the early days of nuclear medicine was species differences. Often a series of labeled compounds were evaluated in a several different animal models in order to gain confidence that the selected radiotracer would behave appropriately in humans. During the past 12 years there have been remarkable advances in molecular genetics, molecular biology, synthetic radiopharmaceutical chemistry, molecular modeling and visualization, and emission tomography. Biological models can now be selected that are better defined in terms of molecular aspects of the disease process. The development of high resolution PET and SPET for clinical applications facilitates the development of new radiopharmaceuticals by the use of models to quantitatively evaluate drug effects, and progression of disease, and hence to arrive at better diagnosis and treatments for animals and humans. With these advances there is an effective use of biological models, and the refinement of alternatives for the development of new radiophannaceuticals.

Construction of the international space station, scheduled to start in late 1998, ushers in a new era for laboratory sciences in space. This is especially true for space life sciences, which include not only the use of low gravity as an experimental parameter to study fundamental biological processes but also the study of the serious physiological changes that occur in astronauts as they remain in space for increasingly longer missions. This book addresses both of these aspects and provides a comprehensive review of ground-based and space research in eleven disciplines, ranging from bone physiology to plant biology. It also offers detailed, prioritized recommendations for research during the next decade, which are expected to have a considerable impact on the direction of NASA's research program. The volume is also a valuable reference tool for space and life scientists.

This two-volume work gathers together the diverse information presently available on spontaneous animal models of human disease. In addition to providing a comprehensive review of existing models, the book presents many previous unpublished new models.The scope of this work is limited to spontaneous models. Neoplasia, infectious diseases including parasitism, and nutritionally induced or other types of experimental models have not been included. The sixteen parts of the book are alphabetically arranged according to organ system with over 230 authors contributing to the overall effort. In addition to many illustrations, the book features an extensive bibliography.