Patent ID: 8304208

Claim:
A method for determining a consequence of an exposure to an exposure condition, the method comprising: identifying an exposure condition to be studied for its effect on an organism, wherein the exposure condition is selected from the group consisting of a potential or known toxin, an environmental stressor, a genetic condition, and combinations thereof; providing a phenotron system that includes: an enclosure configured for retaining and observing at least one test organism and at least one control organism, wherein the test and control organisms live in the same enclosure and in direct competition with one another; one or more distinct regions of the enclosure, the distinct regions including one or more feeders and one or more nesting areas; and sensors associated with the test and control organisms and with the enclosure, wherein the sensors are configured to control access to the one or more distinct regions of the enclosure and/or to collect information about the test and control organisms related to at least one of physical fitness or at least one social status marker; introducing at least one test organism and at least one control organism of the same species into the phenotron system, wherein the test and control organisms each have a signal emitting tag that is sensed by the sensors, wherein the at least one test organism is exposed to the exposure condition in the enclosure and, in the same enclosure, the at least one control organism is not exposed to the exposure condition; collecting, from the one or more sensors, data indicative of a parameter of the physical fitness and/or social status of the at least one test organism as compared to the at least one control organism; and determining from the data whether the exposure condition has an adverse impact on the physical fitness and/or social status of the at least one test organism.