Putting the brakes on rodent breeding

Rodent housing space and animal care staff resources are often at a premium and the production of surplus animals raises ethical concerns. Hampshire and Davis discuss how, through careful consideration of the institution's research needs and the genetic makeup and breeding characteristics of actively maintained rodent strains, the veterinary staff can successfully manage transgenic mouse breeding programs to reduce uncontrolled breeding. See page 45

Keeping mouse strains on ice

Cryopreserving mouse germ cells and embryos is a reliable way to free up facility space, while protecting valuable lines from loss due to environmental disasters, genetic drift, or infectious disease. Landel reviews the available cryopreservation techniques and presents considerations for setting up a cryopreservation facility. See page 50

Getting the most from your mice

Genetically modified mouse strains often suffer unexpected health consequences, including infertility or reduced fertility. Murray and Parker describe simple methods for troubleshooting poor reproductive performance in breeding colonies and introduce various means of assisted reproduction that might be used to 'rescue' infertile lines. See page 36

Rodent identification ways and means

It is often necessary to be able to differentiate between individual animals used in a study, and even between cage mates. Wang introduces the most common rodent identification methods, focusing on cost, ease of use, and animal welfare considerations. See page 64

Rescuing transgenic rabbit lines

Transgenic rabbits can serve in the small-scale production of recombinant proteins, underscoring the need to maintain valuable transgenic lines. Blash and colleagues used cryopreserved transgenic rabbit semen to artificially inseminate does, demonstrating the utility of this method for the reestablishment of a transgenic rabbit herd. See page 61