Molecular Genetics and Animal Models

The integrated course is composed of two units: Molecular genetics and applications in animals and Laboratory animal husbandry.
The aims of the unit of Molecular genetics and applications in animals are:
A. The in-depth theoretical description of molecular genetic methods and techniques used in animal selection, biodiversity evaluation, disease, and other inherited trait causative mutations identification and mapping, genetic diagnostics, as well as in authentication and traceability of animal origin products.
B. The brief description of the theoretical basis of the technological innovations in genomics. In detail, elements of genomics, a description of how genomic databases are structured and how to browse them, how to handle genomic sequences and their use in genomic editing, and high-throughput genotyping of mammals are provided.
C. The description of the principles of genetic standardization and nomenclature of lab animals, particularly mice and rats.
To achieve these aims, in addition to lectures, exercises, and one or more educational visits to research and service facilities in the area are planned.
The objectives of the Laboratory Animal Husbandry unit are:
A. To outline the regulatory framework surrounding the use of animals for experimental purposes.
B. To describe the experimental husbandry and breeding systems for the main laboratory animal species, specifically the mouse, rat, rabbit, and swine. For each species, a review of basic anatomy and physiology will be provided first. This will be followed by detailed information on housing, maintenance, and handling methods for the species in question.
C. To describe methods for assessing animal welfare and recognizing pain in laboratory species.
In addition to lectures, the course includes educational field trips to research facilities and specialized centers focused on laboratory animal breeding.

At the end of the Molecular Genetics and Applications in Animals unit attendance, the student is expected to be able to describe the theoretical bases and basic genetic techniques currently used in the breeding of both domestic and laboratory animals for biodiversity measurement, causative mutations mapping, genotyping for diagnosis and authentication/traceability of products of animal origin detection. The student is also expected to be able to describe some basic procedures that allow the identification of SNVs, delins, and CNVs in domestic animals using genome visualization software. It is also expected that the student will be able to approach online bioinformatics databases (NCBI, Ensembl) to identify, from bibliographical references, genetic and sequence variations in diploid and haploid genomes, design PCR primers, RFLP, in silico PCR and check conservation between species and genera of nucleotide regions, read electropherograms of Sanger nucleotide sequences (fluorescence method) to identify heterozygosity and reconstruct haplotypes.
By the end of the Laboratory Animal Husbandry unit, students are expected to be able to outline the regulatory framework governing the use of animals for experimental purposes and find the necessary information within current legislation. They should be able to describe the breeding methods for the laboratory species covered during the course, focusing on their housing systems, nutrition, and management of environmental parameters. Additionally, students are expected to recognize the animal's welfare status based on normal physiology and identify signs of discomfort or stress, with particular attention to the recognition of pain. Students should also be able to adequately describe the procedures that can be performed on the species covered, including methods of administration, sample collection, and euthanasia techniques.