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Principles of Animal Use for Gerontological Research

^a Department of Pathology and Geriatrics Center, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Institute of Gerontology, and Ann Arbor VA Medical Center, Michigan
^b National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, Maryland

Richard A. Miller, The Geriatrics Center, University of Michigan, CCGCB, Room 5316, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0940. E-mail:millerr@umich.edu

Decision Editor: Jay Roberts, PhD

This essay presents some practical advice and suggestions for those who wish to use mice and rats in experiments on the biology of aging. Ten principles set forth guidance on choice of ages, choice of stocks, the importance of specific pathogen–free status, the uses of necropsy data, the dangers of pooling samples from different individuals, planning ahead for loss of aged mice to death and disease, the use of cost-adjusted power calculations, and the dangers of inferring causal associations from correlated age effects.

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