Infrastructure for research on aging rodents: need for regional facilitiesto support transgenic studies on aging

I propose that North American investigators who depend largely on individua l external grants would benefit from the creation of regional facilities de signed to support of aging in transgenic models. In general, academic insti tutions cannot achieve the most cost effectiveness because their facilities are not designed for industrial-scale cost efficiencies. Regional faciliti es would also increase the reproducibility of experiments. Transgenic studi es of prospective genes that modify the risk of Alzheimer and other outcome s of aging could be carried out under standard conditions of nutrition and caging density, which can influence brain structure and behavior. The regio nal labs should have a strong Pathology Core, which would go far beyond the resources usually available to academic researchers. A national system of regional facilities with Core labs for characterizing genetics, hormones, a nd pathology would greatly accelerate progress. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science I nc. All rights reserved.