Effective management of laboratory biosafety plays one of the most important roles in the national biosafety system. Laboratory animals have been widely used in the life science research field, including infection animal experiments, which have to be done in the animal biosafety laboratory (ABSL). The risk assessment and control related to laboratory animals and animal experiments are the most important affairs in ABSL, and the identification and traceability of laboratory animals detected by wireless tracking technology represent a developing tendency in ABSL management. From the perspective of biosafety, this paper summarized the development of laboratory animal identification and traceability technology,and described the application prospect in ABSL management of non-contact identification technology, especially radio frequency identification technology, which can provide reference for relevant practitioners to use the identification and traceability technology of experimental animals for biosafety control.

General anesthetics used for laboratory animals are mostly controlled drugs, and are subject to strict supervision by the competent government agency in China. Many general anesthetics recommended in the literature are either unavailable or difficult to procure/access in the market, resulting in limited options for clinical use. Furthermore, not all laboratory veterinarians have practical experience in species-specific anesthetic selection and use. Owing to these factors, general anesthesia presents a common institutional challenge in animal surgical programs and serves as a bottleneck that restricts the sustainable development of biomedical industries working with laboratory animal species. This article summarizes the pharmacological properties of common general anesthetics and provides suggestions for general anesthesia in different laboratory animal species.

The host digestive tract comprises trillions of commensal microbes, collectively called microbiota. These microbes interact with a various host cell types and have a significant impact on health and disease. High-throughput sequencing technologies have accelerated the identification of numerous poorly studied microbes associated with health and disease. Genetic and humanized mouse models with and without environmental exposure were established to study the roles of these microbes in human physiologies and pathologies. Important findings related to the microbiota, mucosal immunity, and infectious diseases in mouse models are summarized. Furthermore, challenges and opportunities in leveraging genetic approaches and environmental exposure to optimize mouse models are discussed.