LaboRATory dealings
14 February 2002

Researchers can now order rats over the web

Medical scientists struggling to track down rare kinds of rat for their research will soon be able to shop for a wide range of them as easily as if they were buying a book over the Internet. The Rat Resource and Research Centre (RRRC), a clearing-house for laboratory rats based at the University of Missouri, Columbia, will enable them to acquire the perfect animals for their experiments, using the World Wide Web. For those in a beneficent mood, the centre is also accepting donations.

Although they are not as ubiquitous as laboratory mice, lab rats sometimes have advantages (notably size) over their smaller cousins. They are used, in particular, for the study of such diseases as arthritis, obesity and Alzheimer's. But commercial rodent repositories tend to stock only the bestselling models; and the few existing non-commercial sources cannot handle the demand. Meanwhile, scientists who have managed to develop unusual strains generally lack the facilities to breed in bulk or to organise shipping to other interested parties. So, in 1999, America's National Institutes of Health (NIH) brought together a panel of rat scientists to find a solution. The RRRC, which cost the NIH $6.7m, was the result.

The centre is equipped to take ten new rat strains a year, with a maximum of 50 when it is full. Researchers who want to donate rats should pay a visit to www.radil.missouri.edu/rrrc and fill in an application form, giving details of the rat model's genetic composition and background. So far, the RRRC has accepted two rat strains, both designed for research into rheumatoid arthritis. But diversity is key to the operation, and John Critser and Lela Riley, the centre's directors, hope to add three different models to its rat-bank within the next six months.

The RRRC plans to start taking orders from customers by the summer, charging a nominal fee for its service to cover costs. Customers will be able to order their rats either alive and kicking or cryopreserved, according to taste, as the centre will specialise in freezing embryos, eggs and sperm in liquid nitrogen until they are needed for research. If selecting from a connoisseur's collection of rodent strains is not enough for the gourmet rat scientist, then being able to choose whether you want your rat chilled or at room temperature has surely got to be a selling-point.

Copyright: The Economist 2002