Return to flip book view
Institute of Animal Technology Bulletin G G G Steve Moore Memorial Poster Prize Paper Review Natural Rat Behaviour King Carp Cyprinus carpio G G G AS ET Branch News Diary Dates Vol 53 No 8 August 2017
Bulletin Vol 53 No 8 August 2017 EDITOR Carole Wilson bulletineditor iat org uk ASSISTANT EDITOR bulletinassistant iat org uk ADVERTISEMENT MANAGERS PRC Associates Ltd mail prcassoc co uk Published monthly by the Institute of Animal Technology Registered Office 5 South Parade Summertown Oxford OX2 7JL CONTENTS Dear Bulletin Readers Steve Moore Memorial Poster Prize Congress 2018 Invitation 5 7 9 11 Paper Review 12 13 AS ET 16 19 ISSN 0263 2861 Suppliers Register i xlvi For enquiries other than Bulletin related contact IAT ADMINISTRATOR admin iat org uk or 0800 085 4380 Online Survey Request Final copy date for October Bulletin 1st September The opinions expressed in the Bulletin do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or the Institute 21 King Carp Cyprinus carpio 22 25 Branch News 27 30 Diary Dates 31
Bulletin August 2017 Dear Bulletin Readers Another month has flown by and the summer holidays are upon us I hope you all agree the seagull off the coast of Greece on the front cover gives us a taste of those lazy days In the Bulletin this month we re introducing a new feature published papers reviewed by the IAT Animal Welfare Group This month Simon Cummings considers a paper about the impact of laboratory caging on natural rat behaviour It s an extremely interesting topic see page 12 which also includes the reference for the original paper which I can also highly recommend In something else new to the Bulletin Toni Clarke conducts a survey about single housing of male mice on page 21 Please make time to respond to this and help Toni collect lots of information She will be reporting on the results in a future edition of the Bulletin We also have a North West Branch report on the Steve Moore Memorial Poster Prize my congratulations to Louise Carder for her winning poster Target Training Pigs within an Isolation Unit Read all about the day and how to get more information about the abstracts of all the posters entered See page 7 In more Branch news the West Middlesex Branch give us a round up of their activities and my congratulations go to Emma Rowley for her presentation The Environmental Enrichment Committee for winning the best speaker prize at the WMB 6th Annual Technicians Symposium All of this and more on page 27 For all Branch members interested in fishing don t forget the Interbranch Fishing Competition see page 26 and if you are interested in carp read Paul Barwood s article on page 22 So if you have something you would like to say perhaps you have Branch news want to review a paper conduct a survey write an article tell us about a meeting contact me this is your Bulletin Happy Ho li days Carole 5
Bulletin August 2017 7
8 August 2017 Bulletin
Bulletin August 2017 9
YOUR INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE Everything you need to know about your involvement in Congress is included in this booklet Distributed with this Bulletin O All important Closing Date Reminders for Paper Poster and Workshop submissions O Provisional Timings for Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday O Packages and associated costs O Discounts Under 25 Book early O One Day Attendance is available O Trade Exhibition timings O Social Programme You can also view and download a digital copy at www iat org uk congress html Delegate registration opens ONLINE Monday 11th September Early bird discounts available up to Sunday 17th December To discuss any aspect of Congress or if you have any questions for the Congress Committee email congress iat org uk Check for updates www iat org uk
12 August 2017 Bulletin Paper Review The importance of burrowing climbing and standing upright for laboratory rats Reviewed by Simon Cummings Joanna Makowska and Daniel M Weary from the University of British Columbia Canada authored a paper entitled The importance of burrowing climbing and standing upright for laboratory rats in which they explain that after 150 years of breeding within laboratories rats have maintained a natural disposition to perform certain behaviours including burrowing climbing and standing upright It is unknown what impact these behaviours have on the welfare of rats but it is documented that as rats age their physical activity is reduced the authors state that laboratory caging prevents rats from performing these behaviours The authors objective within this paper is to investigate if laboratory rats will perform these behaviours when given the opportunity within a seminaturalistic cage The authors created this cage by using four levels connected by ramps The cage also contained PVC pipes climbing structures hammocks horizontal ropes and soil on the lowest level The authors filmed groups of rats of different ages housed within either the semi naturalistic or regular laboratory style cages during both light and dark cycles The recordings were reviewed at sample time points and the frequency of the behaviours noted The results were calculated using statistical analysis The authors discovered that burrowing behaviour remained constant throughout a rat s life span and the frequency of climbing undertaken decreased with age Upright standing was the most common activity which continued to be performed by older rats however the frequency decreased with age Therefore it is believed that standing upright is an essential behaviour for rat welfare Within the regular laboratory cage the rats undertook a high frequency of lateral stretches It was noted that rats within the naturalistic cage performed both upright and lateral stretches however the total number of both stretches equates to less than the number of lateral stretches undertaken by regular laboratory housed animals The authors suggest that the increased number of
Bulletin August 2017 13 lateral stretches is employed by the rats to counterbalance for less available head space within the cage and relieve stiffness The authors undertook an anticipatory behavioural test on 19 month old rats comparing the behaviour of these rats within the two different environments regular cages versus the naturalistic cage It was concluded that rats housed within regular cages were not able to undertake their natural behaviours In contrast the welfare of rats within the naturalistic cage was far greater they were able to undertake varied behavioural tasks and live within larger social groups having access to diverse environmental enrichments The paper was published in the Royal Society Open Science 3 160136 During 2016 the authors were awarded the 3Rs prize from the UK s National Centre for the 3Rs NC3Rs with sponsoring from GlaxoSmithKline Reference Makowska I J Weary D M 2016 The importance of burrowing climbing and standing upright for laboratory rats R Soc open sci 3 160136 http dx doi org 10 1098 rsos 160136
16 August 2017 Bulletin Patron Professor Lord Naren Patel KT Chair of Trustees Professor Sir Richard Gardner FIAT Hon FRS Secretary to the Trust Ken Applebee OBE FIAT FRSB Trustees Stephen Barnett MSc Hon FRSB Jasmine Barley MSc FIAT Karen J Gardner Registered Charity Number 113319 Registered Office 5 South Parade Summertown Oxford OX2 7JL AS ET Congress Bursary Competition The Animals in Science Education Trust is pleased to announce the third bursary competition to attend Congress 2018 The intention of the bursary is to encourage junior animal technical staff to extend their knowledge and experience by attending the largest animal technology meeting in the UK Applications are invited from animal technical staff based in the UK or the Republic of Ireland who are studying for or were awarded the IAT Level 2 Diploma in Laboratory Animal Science and Technology in 2015 2016 or 2017 The successful applicant will be selected on the basis of a 1000 word essay on the following How would you convince members of the general public that the use of animals in medical research was justifiable The essays must be received at AS ET by 20th October 2017 They should be sent via email together with the application form to contact as et org uk Full conditions and applications forms can be found on the AS ET website www as et org uk
AS ET is a charity set up to advance education and promote excellenc the care Bulletin and welfare of animals used in science August 2017 17 ET is a charity set up to advance education and promote excellence ET a charity up to advance education andwebsite promote excellence To is see youset can forused a bursary visit our www as et or care andhow welfare of apply animals in science e care and welfare of animals used in science companies listed below sponsor AS ET If you would like to join th eeThe how you can apply for a bursary visit our website www as et org see how can apply aby bursary visit our website www as et org find out to support looking at our website AS ET is you ahow charity set upfor tousadvance education and promote excellence in the care and welfare of animals used in science AS ET a charity to advance education and promote excellence in companies below sponsor AS ET If you would like to join in them AS ET is ais charity setset upup to advance education and promote excellence AS ET islisted a charity charity set up to advance advance education and promote excellence in AS ET is a set up to education and promote excellence in e AS ET companies listed below sponsor AS ET If you would like to join the the care and welfare of animals used in science the care and welfare of animals used in science AS ET ishow acare charity isyou aand charity set upset toup advance to advance education education and promote and promote excellence excellence in in out how to support us by looking at our website the care and welfare of animals used in science the welfare of animals used in science To see can apply for a bursary visit our website www as et org uk d the outcare how towelfare support usofby looking at our website the and care and welfare of animals animals used used in science in science AS ET is a charity to advance education and promote excellence in the care and To how can apply a bursary visit website www as et org uk To seesee how youyou can apply forfor a bursary visit ourour website www as et org uk welfare ofhow animals used in science To see how you can apply for bursary visit our website www as et org uk To see you can apply for aa bursary visit our website www as et org uk The companies listed below sponsor AS ET If you would like to join them To seeTohow see you howcan youapply can apply for a for bursary a bursary visit our visitwebsite our website www as et org uk www as et org uk find The out companies how to support us by looking at our website listed below sponsor AS ET If you would like to join them The companies below sponsor AS ET If you would like tothe join them Sponsors of AS ETlisted are listed below and to find out more please visit The companies listed below sponsor AS ET If you would like to website join them The companies listed below sponsor AS ET If you would like to join them find out how to support us by looking at our website The companies The companies listed listed below below sponsor sponsor AS ET AS ET If you If would you would like to like join to them join them find outout how to to support us us by looking at at our website www as et org uk find out how to support us by looking at our website find how support by looking our website find out findhow out to how support to support us byus looking by looking at ouratwebsite our website
Bulletin August 2017 19 AS ET Annual Lecture Trips and triumphs on the twenty year journey to develop a new treatment for multiple sclerosis Rev Alasdair Coles BA BM BCh PhD FRCP Professor of Neuroimmunology Cambridge University and Addenbrookes Hospital 6pm Wednesday 25th October 2017 King s College London Guy s Campus The presentation will be followed by a wine reception The lecture will be repeated at Newastle University on 22nd November Admission by ticket price 25 Order tickets by emailing contact as et org uk
20 August 2017 Bulletin
Bulletin August 2017 21 Online Survey Request I am approaching 30 years in the industry and so much has moved on in that time but the one thing that doesn t seem to have really changed is how we look after our male mice when they are left singularly housed The Codes of Practice state that mice should be housed in social groups if possible but can be housed individually if aggression is a problem A good use of the 3Rs would be to try to refine and produce different ways where these mice can be brought together into groups highlighting ones that work and ones to avoid 01 2 3 1 4523 0 Where food is abundant mice in the wild will live in a group with a dominant 3 3 4 12 93 211 3 61 1 0 14 2 male and subordinates only an outside intruder would be attacked aggressively 2 5 0 5214 1 412 3 1 23 31 3 3 1 2 5 Throughout my career as an animal technician the norm seems to have been to pool males born from similar aged litters into groups when 5214 4 6 45 0 122 2 8 1 weaned but it had to 45 1 4 1 1 3 02 1 1 3 121 1 be done before they were sexually mature otherwise they would fight 3 3
22 August 2017 Bulletin King Carp Cyprinus carpio Food Source Sport Fish Research Model Ecosystem Menace by Paul Barwood T he king carp or carp as it is usually known is a species of fish native to areas around the Aral Sea Black Sea and Caspian Sea and are now present across every continent barring the poles They are a highly adaptable species that can thrive in a wide range of habitats small man made ponds or large natural bodies of water slow flowing streams or fast moving rivers those with soft silty sediments or hard gravel substrates and everything in between Carp can live for over 60 years and reach weights in excess of 40kg they can tolerate a wide range of water quality parameters and are found in fresh or slightly brackish water with salinities up to 5 ppt a pH range of 6 5 9 0 and temperatures of 3 35 C In Western Europe carp are commonly grown for stocking into sports fisheries and in the UK are regarded as the most popular coarse species to catch Historically large carp had an almost mythical reputation with some believing that they were impossible to catch Over time anglers refined their techniques and improved their understanding of the species leading to the modern methods used to extricate their quarry from their watery home A carp named Clarissa a male fish was caught by Richard Walker from the legendry Redmire Pool in 1952 then moved to the aquarium at London Zoo where it spent the rest of its life This fish at a weight of 44lbs proved that big carp were catchable and inspired a generation of anglers The popularity of carp fishing slowly spread to countries such as the US and Canada where they can also be fished for with spears or bows From top to bottom Common carp Mirrored carp Leather carp
Bulletin August 2017 23 Carp can display a range of colouration and have highly variable body proportions There are three subspecies the common carp has a complete covering of scales on its body the mirror carp has large scales scattered across its body with the rest being naked and the rarely occurring leather carp has no scales at all The carp is closely related to other common cyprinid species and can readily hybridise with common goldfish and crucian carp the latter is regularly stocked in fisheries because they feed more readily in cold water The koi carp highly prized in Japan are now considered to be a different species to common carp They are a well recognised domestic variety displaying a range of colours red black white yellow blue gold silver and more From top to bottom goldfish Crucian carp photoshopped image Koi carp The Romans farmed carp for food as did the Chinese Japanese and Koreans over 2000 years ago Domesticated forms were introduced in Europe in the 13th and 16th centuries by monks and kept in stew ponds These fish were selected for deeper body shapes and faster growth compared to wild carp The wild form is usually fully scaled has an elongated body form a forward pointing mouth and is golden yellow in colour The mirror and leather carp variants are recessive to the fully scaled phenotype having greater susceptibility to physical damage and illness as they lack the protection of scales with the large numbers found in waterways today having occurred via the domestication process
24 August 2017 Bulletin Carp account for the largest proportion of fish produced in aquaculture with a total production of over four million tonnes a year China alone cultures in excess of three million tonnes a year They are consumed globally and are prevalent in aquaculture due to their adaptability robustness and ability to attain a large size In Central Europe they are part of a traditional Christmas dinner and in the US their eggs are often used for caviar An adult female lays around 200 000 eggs per kilogram of body weight they will spawn up to four times a year when water temperatures are in excess of 17 C This is an enormous amount but many of the eggs and fry will die from bacterial or fungal infections or will be predated upon by other fish and insects and their larvae such as dragonflies and Dragonfly larvae aquatic beetles Those that survive to the juvenile stage become prey for larger species such as perch and pike grey heron and otter In aquaculture the spawning process is often induced by injecting a pituitary extract that stimulates gonad maturation known as hypophysation thus enabling predictable spawning Carp are omnivorous and will eat a variety of vegetal matter crustaceans insects and zooplankton scouring the substrate and banksides of the waterways This can potentially cause extensive damage to natural vegetation and water quality As prolific breeders and if there are no natural predators present or commercial fishing is being carried out the carp population can reach destructive proportions In many places carp have caused devastation to the native habitats destroying natural biodiversity eating or uprooting macrophytes and invertebrate communities and raising the turbidity of the water This has led to a large amount of experimental work to mitigate the impact upon the ecosystems to which they have been introduced In Australia an angler can take as many fish as they want there are also regions where it is an offence to return the fish to the wild alive leading to companies in the US and Australia to make fertiliser from carp byproducts
Bulletin August 2017 25 Large scale nettings exposure to the piscicide Rotenone and the introduction of the carp specific koi herpes virus that causes high mortality rates have all been trialed but may have unwanted side effects including the destruction of natural biodiversity The development and introduction of genetically altered carp which produce male only offspring into the population shows promise for eradicating them from areas where they are unwanted care still has to be taken because of the risk of these genetically altered fish cross breeding with natural species Carp are also used for various research projects having genetic similarities to both Fugu pufferfish and zebrafish Those similarities benefit zebrafish research because of their larger size and relative availability of organ material including larger blood samples and genetic material such as DNA which can be produced for testing Twenty years ago viable inbred strains of carp were established however undesirable variation within inbred strains is more frequent than in other common research animal models such as rats and mice Possibly due to the poikilothermic characteristics of carp and their greater dependence on their environment to regulate bodily function than homeotherms such as rats and mice In the UK the carp is generally regarded as a sport fish but in other parts of Europe and Asia they are viewed primarily as a food source Their popularity resulted in introductions for the purpose of aquaculture and unregulated release by anglers seeking to establish new fisheries The carps adaptability that made them so desirable in aquaculture has seen population explosions occur in countries such as America and Australia where the main focus of the research on the species is now how to mitigate against their spread and the devastating impacts this has upon native ecosystems
26 August 2017 Bulletin IAT Inter branch Fishing Match Saturday September 2nd 2017 Organised by the IAT West Middlesex Branch Draw 09 00 fish 10 30 16 30 The venue this year is a commercial mixed fishery in the Northampton Oxford Area Banbury Venue details supplied on registering Fishing in teams of 3 or as individuals Cost is only 20 per person 60 per team The Event is in aid of Help 4 Heroes Everyone is welcome regardless of ability For information or to enter please contact wayne corrylas co uk Tel 07717533159 Sponsored By AS CCoorrrryyLLAS Laboratory Animal Laboratory Animal Science Consultants Science Consultants
Bulletin August 2017 27 West Middlesex Branch WMB O ur name may be misleading but the WMB is very much a London based branch Earlier this year we held our 6th Annual Technicians Symposium which took place at our usual venue at University College London on 14th February As usual we had around 270 delegates including trade attendees who came from far and wide to meet up with colleagues and friends old and new The day is very much aimed at early career or less experienced animal technicians who may not have the opportunity to attend larger meetings or symposia and all they have to pay are their travel expenses We always try to attract a number of inexperienced or first time presenters for the platform sessions and this year was no exception We were also very pleased to welcome as our special speaker Mike Collins from the UK Wolf Conservation Trust who gave a fascinating presentation on this most enigmatic species In addition this year we were very pleased to offer a prize for the best speaker kindly sponsored by Charles River and organised by AS ET Congratulations are due to Emma Rowley from Imperial College who presented her talk entitled The Environmental Enrichment Committee EEC We thank the judges of this competition for giving their valuable time and each of our The 6th Annual Technicians Symposium
28 August 2017 Bulletin speakers who did a fantastic job Thanks is also due to Fraser Darling who as usual did a superb job of managing the platform sessions supporting the Chairs and soothing those first time presenter nerves Sincere thanks are also due to all of our trade colleagues without whom this day would not be possible and of course the technicians who came along without whom there would be no meeting I should also add congratulations to Nilgun who since this photo was taken gave birth to a beautiful baby boy A little bit about our committee We welcome three new committee members this year Amy Wathen from Imperial College Stuart Newman from King s College London and Craig Thrussell from The Francis Crick Institute who will undoubtedly bring along new ideas and contributions to the work that we do We said a sad goodbye to Phil Ruddock who has decided to step down as the president of the WMB Phil was one of the founder members of the WMB committee and as such has contributed immeasurably to its success We thank Phil most sincerely for his unstinting support and wish him a long and happy retirement One of our committee members is actually an octogenerian David Hathorn retired from animal technology many years ago but has remained an active member of our branch for at least 17 years David has just been accepted as a Chelsea Pensioner many congratulations David A Chelsea Pensioner or In Pensioner is a resident at the Royal Hospital Chelsea a retirement home and nursing home for former members of the British Army located in Chelsea London The Royal Hospital Chelsea is home to some 300 retired British soldiers male and female since 2009 and is located on Royal Hospital Road We wish David all the very best in his new life We are also very proud to announce that David has agreed to take on the role of President following Phil s retirement we thank him most sincerely for this and feel sure he will continue the good work
Bulletin August 2017 29 Other events We recently organised the very popular Thames Sundowner again this year an evening trip along the London Thames to take in the sights and relax on a summer s evening Further news on this event in a later edition but we thank all of those who came along to support this social occasion Don t forget like many of our events tickets are subsidized for WMB members If you would like to learn any more about the WMB committee or if you would like to join our branch then please do get in touch We do hope to see you at one of our future gatherings Wendy Steel WMB Secretary w steel imperial ac uk 360 Laboratory Animal Tours http www labanimaltour org Lab Animal Tour is a street view into four animal research facilities in the UK This digital tour allows users to move around four different facilities providing the viewer with 360 degree vision of animal rooms and surgical suites You can look around each facility using a 360 photographic tour Watch the videos to see technicians talking about how they look after their animals and to find out from scientists why animals are being used
30 August 2017 Bulletin
Bulletin August 2017 31 DIARY Dates 2 September IAT Inter branch Fishing Match See page 26 6 September LASA 3Rs UFAW Planning and Implementing the 3Rs South of England Details from www lasa co uk meetings 11 September IAT Congress 2018 Online registration open See page 11 13 September Red Kite Veterinary Consultants Biosecurity Workshops Details from training redkitevet co uk 16 September North West Branch Knowsley Safari Park Guided Tour Talk See page 30 20 September Tecniplast Foundation Course in Tecniplast IVC s Central UK Details from info tecniplastuk com 20 22 September Animal Genetics and Disease Conference Details from https coursesandconferences wellco megenomecampus org events item as px e 635 27 September NC3Rs Mouse Handling See page 20 25 October AS ET Lecture London See page 16 15 November Tecniplast IVC Knowledge and Skills Refresher Course Central UK Details from info tecniplastuk com 17 November Closing date for 2018 Congress Papers and Workshop submissions See pages 10 and 13 22 November AS ET Lecture Newcastle See page 16 20 22 September Tecniplast Technician Symposium Details from info tecniplastuk com Cover photo Just Cruising seagull off the coast of Greece Linda Horan