| dc.description.abstract | SUMMARY
The present article critically overviews the role of rabbit in the development of
science, in a historical scale. The rabbit is widely used in the classical genetic,
immunological, physiological, reproduction biology (see Friedman test), as well
as in the embryological researches. This species was used in studying both the
spontaneous and the induced malformations. From the metabolism models the
atherosclerosis has outstanding rabbit model (WHHL), and also for the Alzheimer
disease. Given the body measures and anatomy, the rabbit is a good subject of
bone and tooth researches. The main ophthalmologic fields are the development
of the techniques of cataract operation, laser treatments, implantation
of shunts, intravitreal drug application and improvement of surgery techniques.
In the biotechnology the rabbit serves as a bioreactor to produce mono and
policlonal antibodies, as well as recombinant proteins for human usage. Infectious
diseases like tuberculosis and many parasitoses can be modelled in rabbits.
Using artificially immune-impaired rabbits, the study of important human
opportunistic pathogens (e. g. Pneumocystis) is possible. Being a caecotroph
animal, the rabbit is extremely sensitive to the ingested mycotoxins (e. g. T-2
toxin), both in female and male genders, making it an excellent research subject
in this direction. | en_US |
