Chapter Preface

While most people know that mice are used in research laboratories, many would be surprised to learn that farm animals—such as cows, pigs, and chickens—are also experimented on. Like mice, some farm animals are used to study human diseases, but most are used in agricultural research.

Farm animals used in biomedical research are used as models in the study of human health problems. For example, researchers at the University of California, San Diego use chickens to study the effects of nicotine on prenatal organisms. In agricultural research, animals are used to develop more cost-effective methods of raising them for food. For example, chickens are used to find ways to increase egg production and increase the size of broiler chickens. A researcher at the University of Georgia developed a device that...