Purchase Ventilated Caging Systems to Expand Mouse Housing Capacity

描述(由申请人提供)：印第安纳大学医学院(IUSM)近年来经历了基因工程小鼠(GEM)使用的大幅增加。这些动物对该学院的主要研究重点至关重要，包括研究癌症、糖尿病和其他在美国很重要的健康问题。我们在使用宝石方面的快速增长创造了对实验动物资源中心(LARC)更高效和更大的住房容量的需求。2009年，我们利用机构资源建造了Walther Hall，这是一座研究大楼，内有18,000平方英尺的啮齿动物住房设施。这个设施被设计成最多容纳12,900只老鼠笼子。当大楼开放时，我们能够购买单独通风的笼子系统，代表大约10,000只老鼠笼子。这项赠款提案的资金将用于购买14个模块化动物笼养系统(MACS(R)，Alternative Design Manufacturing&Supply，Inc.)凭借相关的自动浇水系统(Edstrom Industries，Inc.)，我们的Walther Hall动物设施增加了2240个笼子，增加了该动物设施的容纳能力。这意味着Walther Hall动物设施的容纳能力增加了22%。购买这些额外的独立通风笼子系统将使我们能够实现我们的具体目标，即增加我们主要调查人员所需的可用住房容量， 保护小鼠的健康和福祉，为在动物设施工作的员工提供人员保护，提高动物设施的运营效率。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) has experienced a substantial increase in the use of genetically engineered mice (GEM) in recent years. These animals are critical for the School's major research focuses, including studies of cancer, diabetes, and other health problems of importance in the USA. Our rapid growth in the use of GEM has created a need for more efficient and greater housing capacity in the Laboratory Animal Resource Center (LARC). In 2009, we utilized institutional resources to build Walther Hall, a research building containing an 18,000 square foot rodent housing facility. This facility was designed to house a maximum of 12,900 cages of mice. We were able to purchase individually ventilated caging systems representing approximately 10,000 cages of mice when the building opened. Funds from this grant proposal will be used to purchase 14 Modular Animal Caging Systems (MACS(R), Alternative Design Manufacturing & Supply, Inc.) with associated automatic watering system (Edstrom Industries, Inc) capabilities for our Walther Hall animal facility to add 2,240 cages, increasing the housing capacity of this animal facility. This represents a 22% increase in the housing capacity for the Walther Hall animal facility. The purchase of these additional individually ventilated caging systems will allow us to meet our specific aims of increasing the available housing capacity required by our principal investigators, protecting the health and well-being of the mice, providing personnel protection for the employees working in the animal facilities, and increasing the operational efficiencies of the animal facility.