They are vaccinated under the skin, not in the muscle, and we then take blood samples which can be used in a range of laboratory tests. Here we see an example of an exciting project that uses living rats. This is called a Skinner Box. The boxes contain lights that blink over pedals that the rats can press. In this picture we see a rat using the box.
Rats are intelligent, and they quickly learn to press the pedal under the lamp that is lit.
Once they have learned this, we can give them very small doses of the test material, not enough to do them any harm, and then see if they remember what they had learned. We can also use the boxes to test rats born to mothers who were exposed to test material during pregnancy. By comparing them to rats born to untreated mothers, we can see if they have learning problems. These boxes are a good alternative to other test methods where larger, harmful doses of the test material must be used. The Skinner Boxes are sponsored by an animal-rights organization.