Chapter 25 - Techniques of Experimentation

Since the publication of the second edition of this text in 2004, the primacy of genetically engineered animals has been firmly established. The creation of transgenic and knockout mice with a wide variety of genotypes has revolutionized the study of many disease entities, some of which could previously be modeled only in larger animal species. The complete sequencing of a number of pertinent genomes, including the mouse, guinea pig, rabbit, and dog, along with the associated emerging fields of transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, has led to an increasingly insightful and focused inquiry into the nature of life and disease. A foundation for these inquiries is the enduring need to define and manipulate the animal model, and the comparative medicine scientist or clinician is the agent who develops and implements the techniques and procedures that are the essential tools for discovery.