While people attempt to rid their homes of rodents and other pests, Ohio University's Lab Animal Resources houses a few thousand mice, along with several thousand fish and various other animals.
The department cares foar various animals used in research, teaching or testing in areas such as the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Department of Biological Sciences and the Edison Biotechnical Institute, said Scott Carpenter, director of Lab Animal Resources.
Our mission with the university is to ensure proper
humane care and oversight of the animal use here he said.
The United States uses an estimated 17 million to 23 million research animals yearly, about 95 percent of which are rats and mice, according to the Foundation for Biomedical Research.
During March, the department charged $12,820, the cost of care, to OU faculty researchers, said Andrea Gibson, director of Research Communications. The number fluctuates monthly based on the number and type of animals housed, she said.
Ongoing studies involve cancer, behavioral, and diabetes research.
Current research involves the egg development of frogs, how striped salmon cope with water temperature changes and swordtail fish mating, Carpenter said.
Molly Morris, associate professor of biological sciences, studies the mating behavior of swordtail fish and how the fish maintain genetic diversity.
Not all females like the same thing said Morris, adding some females prefer males with the same amount of vertical body bars on each side, while others prefer a symmetry.
Morris, who separates the male and female swordtails when not mating, examines a female's eggs to find out which male genotype the female prefers.-
Morris wrote in an e-mail,-
Carpenter said.
17
Archives
Caitlin Bowling
