Respect for animals guides their treatment in teaching and research
The three rats snoozing in Cage 57 don’t know it, but they could someday help save thousands of human lives.
Snuggled in their EcoFresh bedding, the rodents are digesting a meal that may hold clues to preventing colon cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. On their cage, equipped with HEPA air-purification filters and precision temperature controls, hangs a blue index card labeled “Special Diet,” on which a researcher has scrawled “Bruss” in black felt pen. The scrawl is short for Brussels sprouts, those oft-disparaged veggies resembling tiny cabbages that are loaded with promising cancer-prevention compounds such as sulphoraphane.
To the rats, however, the pale-green pellets in their food tray (Mix AIN93 from Research Diets Inc., with sprouts added) are just dinner . . . read full article
