Running a facility for laboratory animals not only involves caring for thousands of mice, but also requires a sharp eye to identify each animal’s unique personality.
Whenever the conversation turns to animal personalities, National Laboratory Animal Center director-general Genie Chin’s (秦咸靜) face softens and eyes light up, like a parent excited to gush about their many children.
Apart from the independent hamster, many rodents are social creatures, she said.
Photo courtesy of the National Laboratory Animal Center via CNA
For example, each of the 20,000 mice breeds has their own distinct personality traits, she said.
Some like to “party,” some are maternal and enjoy raising their young, and others even like to drink alcohol, Chin said.
“I have seen some get drunk and collapse into their feed bowl,” she said. “But others dislike alcohol and would rather die than drink.”
Photo courtesy of the National Laboratory Animal Center via CNA
One breed Chin looked after was so sensitive that if frightened while pregnant, it would not care for its pups after giving birth.
It is therefore important not to disturb the mice during pregnancy and until the pups are grown, she said.
“I understand them better the longer I care for them,” she said. “Animals are a lot like people. Of course, I want them to be happy.”
Understanding their personalities is a key part of breeding lab animals — for instance, alcoholism research could be helped by identifying breeds that like to drink, while mice predisposed to gluttony could help with obesity research.
Personalities become apparent through observing their daily routine. If an animal’s behavior changes, it could indicate a health issue.
Wild mice enjoy foraging for materials to “decorate” their homes, so the center provides bedding made from corn husk and wood shavings to simulate natural soil, Chin said.
A healthy mouse given cotton usually rolls it into a ball and begins building a nest, but if it shows no interest, it might not be feeling well, she said, adding that they also choose the spot farthest from their nest to use as a toilet.
Rats, on the other hand, do not like to nest.
“If given a cushion, they will just plop down on it,” Chin said, laughing.
An animal lab requires many people working together to ensure that animals have enough food and water, their homes are in order and to make rounds so that a veterinarian can be called in if anything goes wrong, Chin said.
There is also a team in charge of cleaning and sterilizing items used by the animals, while researchers must regularly administer drugs to the right subjects, take samples and record results, she added.
The center has 10,000 to 20,000 cages of lab mice, meaning that a personnel shortage could have dire consequences.
During the worst part of a local COVID-19 outbreak last year, careful scheduling adjustments were needed to ensure the center stayed in working order, Chin said.
Over the Lunar New Year holiday, all cleaning had to be finished beforehand and schedules carefully planned to ensure there was no lapse in care, she added.
The center is also climate controlled, while sealed cages are equipped with their own air-conditioners with separate intake and exhaust pipes.
This means that the center is just as concerned about power outages as semiconductor fabs are, and it is equipped with multiple levels of backup for the airconditioning system.
If the emergency power supply fails to activate, the air inside the sealed cages cannot last for long, so personnel must immediately open the enclosures.
“There is life inside every cage,” Chin said. “And every life is priceless.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS