2. Úvod
  3. Science
  4. Research Support
  5. Core Facilities
  6. Biochemical Pharmacology
  7. Animal Facility

Animal Facility at IOCB Dejvice

Capacity

  • 1 holding room for the animals (max. 200 mice or 150 rats or combination)
  • 1 holding room dedicated to the genetically modified (GM) animals with the same maximum capacity
  • 3. – 7. místnost: laboratoře (pokusy) + zázemí (sklad, umývárna, spoj.chodba)

Odpovědné osoby

  • Operation of the animal facility including its GMO section is secured and supervised by Dr. Karel Chalupský, a fully qualified zootechnician. Depending on her spare capacity, she may be also asked to assist the researchers with the experiments, especially in terms of teaching them proper animal-handling techniques.
  • Administration issues (Project Proposals) and contact with the regulatory bodies: Lenka Maletínská, Ph.D.
  • Veterinary supervision and accreditation: Jan Honetschlager, DVM.

Typical experiments: collection of body fluids and organs, collection of tissue for in vitro experiments, pharmacokinetics, short-term functional studies

Rules and character of the animal facility

  1. IOCB (via Biochemical Pharmacology group) will take care of the routine functionning of the facility i.e. housing the animals, daily checks of the animals and their living conditions, changing the litter, providing the animals with the standard diet and water, labeling of the cages, cleaning, cadaver disposal... etc. The users are expected to perform their experiments on their own. Also, the experimental animals are to be financed from their own sources.
  2. Alexandra Dvořáková will evidence and process all the animal purchases based on the previous agreement with the users.
  3. Each group involved is required to assign at least one responsible person, possessing the certificate entitling them to work with animals according to the Czech law No. 246/1992 Sb., other members may only work under their supervision. Access to the facility via the ID card will be restricted to the users with valid certificate.
  4. Each experiment/project must be approved by the “Project Proposal” according to the law 246/1992 Sb. (subject to the approval by the ethical committees of both the IOCB and Academy of Sciences). Records need to be kept for each experimental project throughout its whole duration.
  5. People/ research groups that are not eligible to work with the animals may only carry out in vivo experiments in cooperation with their authorized colleagues.
  6. Experiments should be rather short-term, typically 3 months maximum. Exceptions will only be possible in case of GM animals (financial issues).
  7. It will be necessary to plan the experiments in advance (3 months recommended) with respect to the spare capacity of the facility and animal delivery time. These aspects are to be negotiated with Mrs. Jandová.
  8. Incoming animals have to originate from defined sources only – Charles River (Velaz), ENVIGO and Taconic (AnLab) or animal facility IMG and BIOCEV.
  9. Users must clear the occupied space of the facility immediately after the experiment is finished.
  10. Animal facility is not intended for breeding, however, it is allowed to produce embryos/newborns for the purposes of primary cell culture. Breeding may be eventually tolerated in specific cases of very expensive/rare GM animals. These animals are NOT to be distributed to third parties.
  11. GMO: user requirements for GM animals will be treated individually (Mrs. Jandová). To date, the preparation phase for the approval of the part of the facility for work with GM animals is in progress.
  12. Special requirements (diet, animal handling etc.) will be treated individually (Mrs. Jandová).
  13. Animals that died or were sacrificed during the experiment are to be evidenced in the notebook signed „Denní péče o zvířata“ (= „Daily animal care“) immediately upon finding.

Contacts