Experimental Models Cont.

Question 1

What are the advantages of flies and worms as animal models? 6

Answer 1

Cheap
No ethics
Rapid Breeding
Easy genetic manipulation
Innate immunity
High throughput

Question 2

What are the disadvantages of flies and worms as animal models? 3

Answer 2

No adaptive immunity
Small - hard to do surgeries
Limited reagents

Question 3

What type of immunity do fish have (zebrafish)?

Answer 3

COMPLETE

Adaptive and innte

Question 4

Young zebrafish are…

Answer 4

transparent

Question 5

What are the advantages of fish models? 4

Answer 5

Cheap
Visualize process in translucent animal
Rapid breeding
Innate and adaptive

Question 6

What are the disadvantages of fish models? 4

Answer 6

Aquatic
Hard for behavioral studies
Non-classic immune system
Limited reagents

Question 7

What model is used in the vast majority of research today?

Answer 7

Rodents

Question 8

What type of immune system do rodents have?

Answer 8

Fairly close to people

both

Question 9

What are the 4 advantages of rodents?

Answer 9

Have an immune system close to humans
Convenient size
Genetically pliable
Stricly control breeding

Question 10

What are you able to study with rodents?

Answer 10

Disease at the organism and the molecular level

Question 11

What are rodents used for?

Answer 11

Infection
healing
Immunization
Autoimmunity
Transmission

Question 12

What is the drawback to rodent models?

Answer 12

They are not human

Question 13

How do you choose a model? 3

Answer 13

Determine the specific question
Choose a model that most closely parallels humans for that single aspect of interest
Avoid overinterpreting or generalizing findings as an attempt to explain human disease

Question 14

Vertebrates require approval from…

Answer 14

An institutional animal ethics committee

Question 15

What is the ethics committee made up of?

Answer 15

Researchers, vets, and ppl of the public

Question 16

Before publication and funding what do all journals/grants require?

Answer 16

Ethics approval

Question 17

What are the 3 Rs

Answer 17

Reduce (as few animals as possible)
Replace (w/ lower organisms) fish w/ fly
Refine (get more data out of each, improve technique to min. discomfort)

Question 18

If animals don’t completely model humans - how can we improve the model? 3

Answer 18

Humanized mice
Transfer human cells into a recipient animal
Use humans…

Question 19

What are human model past wrongs?

Answer 19

Jenner (forcibly vax and challenging w/ disease)
Guatemalan syphilis study
Tuskegee syphilis studies
Prisoner studies

Question 20

What are the advantages on paper with prisoner studies?

Answer 20

Repay debt to society
Higher than avg of certain diseases
Access to elevated health care
More minority pop.
Ability to follow up

Question 21

What are the 4 issues with human subjects?

Answer 21

Freedom
Informed consent
Privacy
Incentive

Question 22

What two types of studies can we do with humans?

Answer 22

Observational

Interventional

Question 23

What are observational studies?

Answer 23

No impact on day to day life
Not altering health/treatment
Take blood from someone at the hospital already giving blood

Question 24

Interventional studies

Answer 24

More controversial
Testing something
Always requires informed consent

Question 25

What are the stages of interventional studies?

Answer 25

Phase 1-4

Question 26

Phase 1

Answer 26

Safety and efficacy

10-12 patients

Question 27

Phase 2

Answer 27

Larger, efficacy

Question 28

Phase 3

Answer 28

This is where it gets approved

Very large, efficacy, side effects, comparison to current drugs

Question 29

Phase 4

Answer 29

Following the drug after release to market

Looking for rare events

Question 30

What is the ultimate experiment?

Answer 30

Prospectively vaccinate a huge number of people
Follow ppl for a very long time
Compare infection rates of vax and unvax
Crazy $$$