Volume 54 Issue 10, October 2025

Researchers are increasingly using organ-on-chips and organoids alongside or instead of animals to model drug safety, biological mechanisms and rare diseases.

The authors report the development of a new rat model of forelimb ischemia–reperfusion injury, characterized by motor coordination deficits, impairment of neuromuscular transmission and serum biochemical and inflammatory changes.

The study reveals that long-term anesthesia with ketamine–xylazine can induce hypoxia and mortality in mice, whereas oxygen supplementation mitigates these effects. As an alternative, isoflurane showed superior safety and fewer effects on the immune system.

Jovanovic et al. show that a gel-based diet can be used as a minimally invasive alternative system for the delivery of small molecules for microglia depletion and inducible Cre recombination in mice.