The Experimental Animal Facility (EAF) at the NCR Biotech Science Cluster
The Experimental Animal Facility (EAF) at the NCR Biotech Science Cluster is a state of the art facility housing mice, other rodent and small animal models. The facility complies with the guidelines of and is registered with the Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, with the registration number 1835/GO/ReRcBi/S/15/CPCSEA. The EAF has permission for conducting small animal research for education and commercial purpose, and breeding for in-house use, after obtaining due approvals from the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee.
The EAF is located in a dedicated three storey building on campus with a built-up area of 4940 square metres, to facilitate animal experimentation for the scientific community. The ground floor houses change rooms, quarantine, stores, offices, lab area, washing/autoclave area, clean processing and storage areas serving as a support area. The remaining three floors have an identical design, dedicated for housing animals and conducting animal work. These floors have designated clean and dirty corridors to facilitate movement of personnel and animal supplies, minimizing contamination risks. Separate rooms with access restrictions have been earmarked for animal breeding and experimental purposes. Animals are maintained in individually ventilated caging (IVC) systems, with environmental conditions maintained as per CCSEA guidelines. The floors housing animals are equipped with cage change stations, biosafety cabinets, laminar flow units, anaesthesia systems, euthanasia setup, in vivo imaging system and other equipment for performing experiments on small animals by trained users. The EAF entry is controlled with restricted access provided only to trained users and staff via a card based system. Standard operating procedures are followed for animal handling and all animal-related procedures carried out at the facility. Animal facility records are maintained and CCTV surveillance monitoring carried out, as per CCSEA guidelines. Standard animal quality control measures including health, genetic and environmental monitoring are followed to ensure animal health. A separate room within the facility caters to animal infection studies involving biosafety level 2 pathogens. Periodic training programs are conducted at the facility, on animal care, handling and experimental techniques for staff, students and researchers planning to perform animal related procedures and experiments.
The facility started operations in September 2016, currently housing rodent models, including 52 mouse strains comprising inbred, transgenic, knock-in, knockout and immunodeficient strains. These animals are used for carrying out research in diverse areas including immunology and auto-immune diseases, infectious diseases, cancer biology, gut inflammation, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, haemolytic diseases, muscle development and diseases, neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases, stem cells and regeneration.
