Volume 52 Issue 12, December 2023

Fernandez, Martinez-Romero et al. review concepts, methods, tools and challenges to leverage Big Data in preclinical aging research, with a focus on rodent studies.

The authors show that VAR2CSA-based placental malaria vaccine candidates induce similar responses in Aotus nancymaae monkeys as those reported in humans; these findings suggest that the Aotus model is suitable for preclinical downselection of placental malaria vaccine candidates.

The authors used a gene-editing approach to generate a C57BL/6J mouse model expressing the CD45.1 epitope. The model, which overcomes some of the issues reported with the congenic mouse B6.SJL, could be useful for adoptive cell transfer experiments.

Environmental enrichment is a home-based intervention that mimics natural habitats for laboratory-housed animals. This systematic review of 27 environmental enrichment protocols finds consistent benefits for zebrafish welfare while raising the importance of a standardizing protocol to improve reproducibility of results.