Purpose: To briefly describe the major types of research, testing, and teaching programs involving animals.

Scope: All University faculty, staff, researchers, and students who use or care for animals.

Background/Definitions: 

The principle areas of animal related research and teaching at the University of Oregon are:

1. Neurodevelopment: Investigators are seeking to understand basic, fundamental principles underlying the formation of the basic body plan and the nervous system. Zebrafish, mice and rats are excellent vertebrate models for these studies.
2. Neurophysiology: Projects concerned with understanding neurophysiological aspects of vision, attention, olfactory, hearing and memory are all areas of study within the Institute of Neuroscience. Various species such as owls, fish and rodents are used in this type of research.
3. Molecular Biology: Members of the Institute of Molecular Biology utilize various molecular methods, as well as polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to study molecular interactions, membrane transport, enzyme function and genetic regulation. All polyclonal antibodies and most monoclonal antibodies are produced through outside companies.
4. Genetics and Development: Fish and mice are both used to study the cellular, molecular, and genetic processes underlying a wide variety of vertebrate developmental processes, especially those involved in gastrulation, morphogenesis and neurodevelopment.
5. Evolution and Genetics: Zebrafish, stickleback and other species of fish are used in evolutionary studies in the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, especially for studies of the evolution of embryonic development.
6. Teaching: Developmental biology and animal physiology courses and field studies use frogs, snakes, sticklebacks, zebrafish and chicken embryos to teach fundamental principles of development and physiology. Many invertebrate species and a few marine vertebrates are used at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB).
7. Physiology: Pre-clinical mammalian models (mouse, rat, etc) of human health and disease are employed by faculty in the Department of Human Physiology to elucidate physiological mechanisms and identify treatments for various disease states related to pregnancy, cardiovascular disease, aging and metabolism.

Approvals:

Revision History: September 2014

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