The involvement of microbiome in neurological disorders: an update
A recent Nature article emphasized how microbiome research is becoming central to understanding the development of neurological disorders (Ref. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00260-3)…
What is Gnotobiology in Lab Animal Science?
Over the past 20 years, transgenic mice have become the principal laboratory animal model used in biomedical research. Within this…
Plastic cages for gnotobiotic and germ free mice: How to select the right material
When it comes to selecting a plastic cage to be used in a particular application (like Gnotobiotic facilities), there are…
Decontamination of the Air Handling Unit (AHU)
The Air Handling Unit (AHU) is an essential tool to guarantee the welfare of germ free animals. To ensure the…
Modelling gut-brain interactions in gnotobiotic mouse models
Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying gut-brain interactions has become one of the central topics in the neuroscience field. In fact,…
Gnotobiotic facility: How do you decontaminate a Biosafety Cabinet (BSC)? (part.3)
The last total decontamination for Biosafety Cabinet (surface + interior parts) in a Gnotobiotic facility , officially reported in the…
Gnotobiotic facility: How do you decontaminate a Biosafety Cabinet (BSC)? (part.2)
Another total decontamination (surface + interior parts) method for Biosafety Cabinet (BSC) in a gnotobiotic facility is the formaldehyde fumigation…
Gnotobiotic facility: How do you decontaminate a Biosafety Cabinet (BSC)? (part.1)
There are, mainly, two different Biosafety Cabinet (BSC) decontamination types for the safety of a gnotobiotic facility. Surface decontamination which…
Housing of germ free animals
Germ free mice, also called Axenic, are animals free of all foreign life forms apart from itself (as determined within…
Sterilization of diets for Germ Free rodents: treatment, monitoring and validation
The use of sterile diets is a must in maintaining germ free or gnotobiotic rodents. There are basically two methods…
The DVC® is capable to provide novel insights and enhance animal welfare checks thanks to the automatic data collection directly from the cage level. Specifically designed DVC® board enables different benefits for the researchers and vivarium people.