Laboratory Husbandry
Laboratory Husbandry - Related Videos
07:58
Zebrafish Maintenance and Husbandry
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2023
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a powerful vertebrate model system for studying development, modeling disease, and screening for novel therapeutics. Due to their small size, large numbers of zebrafish can be housed in the laboratory at low cost. Although zebrafish are relatively easy to maintain, special consideration must be given to both diet and water quality to in order to optimize fish health and reproductive success. This video will provide an overview of zebrafish husbandry and...
05:21
Training Laboratory Rabbits to Refine Routine Husbandry Procedures
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Cited by 2 •
2024
Training protocols involving positive reinforcement for routine husbandry procedures in rabbits were developed and proved to be successful, as the rabbits reliably showed the trained behaviors at the weekly general examination. Picking the rabbits up with the transport box was less aversive than the conventional handling technique.
06:19
Decontamination for Laboratory Biosafety
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2023
Robert M. Rioux and Zhifeng Chen, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA Decontamination is essential for laboratory biosafety, as the accumulation of microbial contamination in the laboratory can lead to the transmission of disease. The degree of decontamination can be classified as either disinfection or sterilization. Disinfection aims to eliminate all pathogenic microorganisms, with the exception of bacterial spores on lab surfaces or equipment. Sterilization, on the other hand,...
08:00
Measuring Mass in the Laboratory
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2023
The analytical balance is the common piece of equipment in the scientific laboratory. These highly precise instruments can measure down to ten thousandths or even hundred thousandths of a gram. The triple beam balance is a type of scale that uses counterweights on a three rider beams to counterbalance the sample in the pan. On the other hand, modern analytical balances use a complex system of electronic sensors to accurately mass a substance. The analytical balance is so sensitive that it...
07:27
Making Solutions in the Laboratory
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2023
The ability to successfully make solutions is a basic laboratory skill performed in virtually all biological and chemical experiments. A solution is a homogenous mixture of solute dissolved in bulk liquid known as the solvent. Solutions can be described by their solute concentration, a measure of how much solute is present per unit of solution. In this video, a step-by-step procedure for how to make a water-based, or aqueous, solution for biological applications is presented. The video...
FAQs
Controlled housing reduces differences in surroundings that could otherwise influence health, behavior, physiology, or treatment responses. Consistent conditions help researchers separate effects caused by an experiment from effects caused by the environment. This makes biological measurements easier to compare across study groups and supports reproducibility when the same husbandry standards are maintained throughout the work.
Nutrition, sanitation, environmental conditions, handling, and routine health monitoring can each affect the condition of research animals. Poor control in any of these areas may increase stress, disease, or unwanted biological variation. Monitoring these factors allows care teams to identify changes early and helps researchers interpret physiological, behavioral, genetic, disease, or drug-response findings more accurately.
Stress and declining welfare can alter biological responses, creating variation that is unrelated to the research question. Standardized handling, appropriate care, and regular welfare checks help protect animal health while limiting these confounding influences. This connection gives welfare monitoring both an ethical purpose and a scientific one, because healthier, less-stressed animals can support more dependable study results.
Routine husbandry includes providing suitable nutrition, maintaining sanitation, controlling housing conditions, handling organisms consistently, and conducting regular health checks. Care personnel also monitor welfare and document relevant observations. Together, these activities create a repeatable care process that can identify problems before they compromise animal well-being or introduce environmental variation into a biological experiment.
Careful records preserve information about housing, nutrition, sanitation, environmental conditions, health observations, handling, and welfare monitoring. These records help identify changes that might explain unexpected biological results and provide evidence that care procedures were applied consistently. They therefore connect day-to-day husbandry with reproducibility, study interpretation, and responsible oversight of research organisms.
Its importance extends across studies of physiology, behavior, genetics, disease, and drug responses. In each area, environmental conditions and animal health can influence the measurements under investigation. Applying consistent care and monitoring helps researchers distinguish experimental effects from husbandry-related influences, while also supporting ethical animal care and more reliable conclusions across these diverse biological applications.