Table 2.
Small animals (mice, rats, guinea pigs) vs. large animals (dogs, pigs, sheep, monkeys) |
Costs, staffing, and facilities |
Sample (e.g. blood, tissue) sizes |
Ease of procedures/transport/care |
Physiological/genetic similarities to humans |
Availability of transgenic models |
Ethical considerations |
Availability of reagents |
Interanimal variation |
Need for functional/behavioral outcome measures |
Healthy vs. comorbid conditions |
Modified and updated from Tsukamoto and Pape (16) |