Laboratory mice are an essential resource for the scientific community. The mouse genome can be manipulated easily, allowing researchers to induce...

Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) are salamanders that have been used for research for more than 200 years (Figure 1).1 They have a remarkable ability to regenerate...

Precision disease modeling has gained increased interest in the research community in recent years and remains at the forefront of personalized medicine approaches for developing models of human disease. Informed by recommendations¹ from the 2013 “Animal Models and Personalized Medicine Symposium” to coordinate research projects to facilitate knowledge and resource sharing, the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Precision Disease Modeling Initiative in 2014.

The current COVID-19 pandemic in humans, caused by the novel coronavirus strain SARS-CoV-2, has compelled scientists around the world to work remarkably fast to develop vaccines and therapeutics. To achieve this, many researchers are looking to use animal models for their studies. But do animal models for COVID-19 research exist?

Animal Models for Coronavirus Research

Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting U.S. adults over the age of 60, is predicted to increase in prevalence as the American population ages.¹ The characteristic motor-related symptoms are rest tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and stooping posture. Lesser known is the loss of cardiac postganglionic sympathetic innervation, which is a characteristic pathology of PD that progresses over time, is independent of motor symptoms, and is not responsive to typical anti-Parkinsonian therapies. Dr.

ORIP aims to provide investigators with the resources and infrastructure they need to improve human health, including by supporting the development of animal models of human disease. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in humans, caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strain, has compelled scientists around the world to work remarkably fast to develop vaccines and therapeutics using animal models.

Biomedical research has been transformed over the past several decades; new capabilities that researchers once only dreamed of are now possible. As a result, biomarkers (e.g., genes, proteins, or steroids) or pathogens (e.g., viruses, bacteria, and parasites) can be detected easily with laboratory assays (tests). Because biomarkers and the presence of pathogens contribute to an organism’s physiological profile, they hold immense potential for the study of life.

ORIP’s DCM supports multiple NHP colonies and research-related resources that are available to the research community. These NHP Resources support biomedical research across scientific disciplines, with studies supported across the NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices. See our Fact Sheet for more information.

ORIP Nonhuman Primates Resources

At the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC), a group of monkeys climb and swing across their large outdoor enclosure. At first glance, the small, fur-covered primates appear to bear little resemblance to their human handlers. Their DNA, however, tells a different story. The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) shares about 93 percent of its genome with humans.¹ For this reason, researchers study the rhesus macaque to understand primate evolution, comparative physiology, and the genetic basis of human diseases as well as addressing numerous scientific questions.

A convergence of scientific breakthroughs in chemistry, optics, and engineering in the early 1800s resulted in a miraculous new way to understand life—the light microscope. Microscopic studies of a wide range of samples by Johannes Müller and his protégés Matthias Schlieden, Theodor Schwann, and Rudolf Virchow resulted in a scientific epiphany and one of the most profound and useful revelations in history: Cells are the building blocks of all living organisms.