Animal Models
We provide high-quality outbred, inbred, disease, germ-free, knockout, and immunodeficient rats, mice, Syrian hamsters, guinea pigs and zebra fish for biomedical research. We have the following laboratory animals:
Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
We provide New Zealand Rabbits suitable for animal research. The FDA recommends use of New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits for studies of lipid metabolism, and eye research. The FDA also recommends use of rabbits in development of treatments for infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis, osteoarthritis research, cardiovascular disease, lipid metabolism, the development of anticoagulants, testing of bone implants, and Alzheimer’s Disease.
The Chinchilla bastard rabbit which is a model organism for opthalmology research is also available.
Lab Mice (Mus musculus)
The laboratory mice is the most used animal in medical reearch. In cancer research, laboratory mice are extensively used for studies on tumor development, progression, and response to treatment.. Researchers can induce specific types of cancer in mice or use genetically modified mice that spontaneously develop tumors.
These models help scientists understand the molecular mechanisms driving cancer growth and metastasis, as well as test novel anticancer drugs and therapies. Neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and autism spectrum disorders are studied using mice.
New drugs are evaluated for safety and efficacy, pharmacokinetics are assessed, and appropriate dosages are determined through the use of mice in drug development and testing. These studies help identify promising drug candidates and provide valuable data for subsequent clinical trials.
Mice share approximately 95% of their genes with humans, making them an excellent model organism for studying genetic diseases and traits and in toxicology studies. Mice have a well-characterized immune system that closely resembles that of humans. Immune responses to infections, autoimmune diseases, and the development of vaccines are studied using zebrafish.
We provide more than 80 different types of mice for use in biomedical research.
Hartley Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus)
We provide Hartley guinea pigs for research purposes. Hartley guinea pigs are suitable for general research and are one of the most popular laboratory animals.
Syrian Hamster (Mesocricetus auratus)
Syrian Hamster breeds are suitable for research on SARS-CoV-2, carcinogenicity studies, behavioural studies, toxicity studies, infectious disease studies, and general research.
Lab Rats (Rattus norvegicus)
The laboratory rat is the animal model of choice for research on complex human diseases, behavior and physiology. Rats are some of the most versatile laboratory animals and have been studied for 150 years.
Researchers widely use rats in cardiovascular medicine, wound healing, cancer, motion sickness, behavioral studies and diabetes. In addition, the use rats in neural regeneration, vaccine development, antibody production, disease modeling, toxicity testing, and transplantation research. Researchers also use rats to develop drugs, with wide applications in toxicity and pharmacokinetic studies.
Rats have made invaluable contributions to cardiovascular medicine, neural regeneration, wound healing, diabetes, transplantation, behavioral studies, and space motion sickness research. Moreover, researchers have also widely used rats to test drug efficacy and safety. Our new knowledge of the rat genome should result in improved models in all these areas of research.”
We provide more than 30 different types of rats for use in biomedical research.
Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
The zebrafish is an excellent in vivo model that’s revolutioninizing medical research and driving scientific breakthroughs in drug toxicology, neurophysiology, and disease biology. Zebrafish is among the most used laboratory animals.
Vaccines development
Zebrafish are useful in vaccine development studies where post-vaccination infection can help test the vaccine efficacy. The transparent nature of zebrafish embryos allows for the visualization of immune cell recruitment, antibody production, and pathogen clearance following vaccination. This information assists in the design and optimization of vaccines against infectious diseases.
Drug development and screening
Researchers have increasingly used zebrafish in drug discovery and screening for infectious diseases. They can test small molecules or compounds for their efficacy in treating infections by exposing zebrafish larvae or adults to pathogens and then treating them with potential drugs.
Researchers have developed high-throughput screening approaches using automated imaging systems to assess the effects of large compound libraries on pathogen growth or host survival. Researchers have successfully employed zebrafish models in identifying novel antimicrobial agents and evaluating drug toxicity.
Immune system study- The zebrafish immune system shares many similarities with mammals, including the presence of innate and adaptive immune components. Studying zebrafish immune responses to infections can provide insights into the fundamental mechanisms underlying host defense against pathogens. Genetic engineering techniques can allow researchers to generate zebrafish mutants or transgenic lines with altered immune functions, enabling them to investigate specific immune pathways or genes involved.
Host pathogen interaction- Zebrafish provides a unique opportunity to study the interactions between hosts and pathogens at both the cellular and molecular levels. The transparency of zebrafish embryos allows for real-time visualization of infection processes, such as pathogen entry, dissemination, and immune responses.
Host movement and behavior can be tracked using fluorescently labeled pathogens or immune cells. This enables the observation of dynamic processes like bacterial invasion, replication, and clearance.
Genetics
The genetic tractability of zebrafish enables researchers to perform large-scale genetic screens to identify host factors involved in susceptibility or resistance to infections. Using mutagenesis techniques or CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, we can disrupt or modify specific genes and assess the resulting phenotypes for their impact on infection outcomes.