Course Identification

1. Lecture on ethics: Use of animals in biomedical research, importance of the three 'R's in research, description of the ethical standards in Israel and at the Weizmann Institute.
2. Lecture on standardization: Environmental and microbiological factors affecting laboratory animals and work with them.
3. Lecture on rats and mice: History of their biomedical use, their biology, the different strains, anatomic and physiologic differences and their relevance to research.
4. Lecture on rabbits and hamsters (see 3).
5. Lecture on fish and Xenopus (see 3).
6. Lecture on Pain assessment and alleviation, clinical sign assessment, analgesia and euthanasia.
7. Revision of the theoretical material through a multiple: choice test.
8. Laboratories: Various methods of handling and holding experimental animals, IP injection, subcutaneous and intravenous injection in fully alert animals, bleeding under anesthesia, tail Sampling, bleeding through artery piercing in the rabbit, Euthanasia. Postmortem lab-learning to dissect and take samples for histologic evaluation. Participation in this part of the course (in its entirety) is compulsory and is a pre-requisite for receiving credit for this course.
9. Lectures and special procedures on primates:

Upon successful completion of this course students should be be able to:

1. Explain principles in laboratory animals? medicine.
2. Demonstrate proficiency advanced methodology and experimental approaches in animals' experimentation.
3. Perform commonly used procedures in different species as well as a postmortem dissection.