Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation

Bernhard Voelkl; Naomi S. Altman; Anders Forsman; Wolfgang Forstmeier; Jessica Gurevitch; Ivana Jaric; Natasha A. Karp; Martien J. Kas; Holger Schielzeth; Tom Van de Casteele; Hanno Würbel

doi:10.1038/s41583-020-0313-3

Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation

Bernhard Voelkl, Naomi S. Altman, Anders Forsman, Wolfgang Forstmeier, Jessica Gurevitch, Ivana Jaric, Natasha A. Karp, Martien J. Kas, Holger Schielzeth, Tom Van de Casteele, Hanno Würbel^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Kas lab - Behavioural Neuroscience

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

215 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Context-dependent biological variation presents a unique challenge to the reproducibility of results in experimental animal research, because organisms’ responses to experimental treatments can vary with both genotype and environmental conditions. In March 2019, experts in animal biology, experimental design and statistics convened in Blonay, Switzerland, to discuss strategies addressing this challenge. In contrast to the current gold standard of rigorous standardization in experimental animal research, we recommend the use of systematic heterogenization of study samples and conditions by actively incorporating biological variation into study design through diversifying study samples and conditions. Here we provide the scientific rationale for this approach in the hope that researchers, regulators, funders and editors can embrace this paradigm shift. We also present a road map towards better practices in view of improving the reproducibility of animal research.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	384-393
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature reviews neuroscience
Volume	21
Issue number	7
Early online date	2-Jun-2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0313-3
Publication status	Published - 2-Jun-2020

Keywords

CEREBRAL-ISCHEMIA
SEX-DIFFERENCES
INBRED STRAINS
MICE
MOUSE
ENVIRONMENT
STANDARDIZATION
BEHAVIOR
SCIENCE
NIH

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1 Erratum

Author correction: Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation (vol 77, pg 321, 2020)
Voelkl, B., Altman, N. S., Forsman, A., Forstmeier, W., Gurevitch, J., Jaric, I., Karp, N. A., Kas, M. J., Schielzeth, H., Van de Casteele, T. & Wurbel, H., 8-Jun-2020, In: Nature reviews neuroscience. 21, 7, p. 394 1 p.
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3 Citations (Scopus)

72 Downloads (Pure)

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title = "Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation",

abstract = "Context-dependent biological variation presents a unique challenge to the reproducibility of results in experimental animal research, because organisms{\textquoteright} responses to experimental treatments can vary with both genotype and environmental conditions. In March 2019, experts in animal biology, experimental design and statistics convened in Blonay, Switzerland, to discuss strategies addressing this challenge. In contrast to the current gold standard of rigorous standardization in experimental animal research, we recommend the use of systematic heterogenization of study samples and conditions by actively incorporating biological variation into study design through diversifying study samples and conditions. Here we provide the scientific rationale for this approach in the hope that researchers, regulators, funders and editors can embrace this paradigm shift. We also present a road map towards better practices in view of improving the reproducibility of animal research.",

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author = "Bernhard Voelkl and Altman, {Naomi S.} and Anders Forsman and Wolfgang Forstmeier and Jessica Gurevitch and Ivana Jaric and Karp, {Natasha A.} and Kas, {Martien J.} and Holger Schielzeth and {Van de Casteele}, Tom and Hanno W{\"u}rbel",

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doi = "10.1038/s41583-020-0313-3",

language = "English",

volume = "21",

pages = "384--393",

journal = "Nature reviews neuroscience",

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T1 - Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation

AU - Voelkl, Bernhard

AU - Altman, Naomi S.

AU - Forsman, Anders

AU - Forstmeier, Wolfgang

AU - Gurevitch, Jessica

AU - Jaric, Ivana

AU - Karp, Natasha A.

AU - Kas, Martien J.

AU - Schielzeth, Holger

AU - Van de Casteele, Tom

AU - Würbel, Hanno

PY - 2020/6/2

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N2 - Context-dependent biological variation presents a unique challenge to the reproducibility of results in experimental animal research, because organisms’ responses to experimental treatments can vary with both genotype and environmental conditions. In March 2019, experts in animal biology, experimental design and statistics convened in Blonay, Switzerland, to discuss strategies addressing this challenge. In contrast to the current gold standard of rigorous standardization in experimental animal research, we recommend the use of systematic heterogenization of study samples and conditions by actively incorporating biological variation into study design through diversifying study samples and conditions. Here we provide the scientific rationale for this approach in the hope that researchers, regulators, funders and editors can embrace this paradigm shift. We also present a road map towards better practices in view of improving the reproducibility of animal research.

AB - Context-dependent biological variation presents a unique challenge to the reproducibility of results in experimental animal research, because organisms’ responses to experimental treatments can vary with both genotype and environmental conditions. In March 2019, experts in animal biology, experimental design and statistics convened in Blonay, Switzerland, to discuss strategies addressing this challenge. In contrast to the current gold standard of rigorous standardization in experimental animal research, we recommend the use of systematic heterogenization of study samples and conditions by actively incorporating biological variation into study design through diversifying study samples and conditions. Here we provide the scientific rationale for this approach in the hope that researchers, regulators, funders and editors can embrace this paradigm shift. We also present a road map towards better practices in view of improving the reproducibility of animal research.

KW - CEREBRAL-ISCHEMIA

KW - SEX-DIFFERENCES

KW - INBRED STRAINS

KW - MICE

KW - MOUSE

KW - ENVIRONMENT

KW - STANDARDIZATION

KW - BEHAVIOR

KW - SCIENCE

KW - NIH

U2 - 10.1038/s41583-020-0313-3

DO - 10.1038/s41583-020-0313-3

M3 - Review article

SN - 1471-0048

VL - 21

SP - 384

EP - 393

JO - Nature reviews neuroscience

JF - Nature reviews neuroscience

IS - 7

ER -

Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation

Abstract

Keywords

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Research output

Author correction: Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation (vol 77, pg 321, 2020)

Cite this