International expertise at a Nordic seminar on mice

Comparative Medicine, CM, at Karolinska Institutet is a support and a partner for KI’s researchers in all activities where animal experiments are concerned. CM arranged a conference on 8–9 December on breeding and husbandry of mouse models in laboratory animal science.

“The mouse has come to be the totally dominant mammal model in laboratory animal science and the species will soon have a fully mapped gene catalogue. Bringing together leading international expertise to discuss the latest findings is important for carrying development forward,” says conference host Brun Ulfhake, Director of Comparative Medicine at KI.

Every two years, researchers, breeders and other stakeholders come together at a major seminar within the NorIMM (Nordic Infrastructure for Mouse Models) collaboration, in which KI participates together with University of Bergen, University of Copenhagen and University of Oulu.

Almost 200 delegates took part this time, when international expertise gathered together to discuss the latest research findings. What is the best technique for breeding and preserving mouse models? How can the health and welfare of mouse colonies be secured? How do different diets affect the characteristics of the mice?

One of the aims is to increase quality by refining the methods.

“By doing so we can at the same time achieve a reduction in the number of animals needed in research and experiments. All the issues that are taken up here are important both from the point of view of research quality and from an ethical perspective,” Brun Ulfhake goes on.

Speakers at the conference included Björn Rozell, Chief Veterinarian at KI, Cory Brayton, Professor of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology at Johns Hopkins University in the USA, and Kristin Lamont, researcher at The Jackson Laboratory, also in the USA.

Rafael Frias, Director of the LAS Education & Training Unit, CM, was responsible for arranging the conference and Johannes Wilbertz, KI Mouse Models coordinator, CM, was a member of the programmed committee.

Text: Karolina Olofsson