Abstract
The second edition of Biodefense Research Methodology and Animal Models provides a valuable synopsis for the scientists and veterinarians who study the organisms and toxins listed on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Select Agent list. In addition to the obvious readership, several introductory chapters provide a roadmap for any investigator or laboratory animal veterinarian seeking to develop an ethical animal model for the study of infectious agents, drugs, or biologicals.
As mentioned, the first 81 pages of this book provide an excellent introduction to the history, necessity, and execution of animal research in the biodefense arena. Of particular note is the discussion in Chapter 3 concerning the 2002 Food and Drug Administration rule known as the “animal efficacy rule.” This chapter develops the argument for ethical animal research and then provides the requirements that dictate proper application of the animal efficacy rule. The following chapter, “Development and Validation of Animal Models,” is also well done and defines a 9-step process that any and every investigator using animal models, whether employed in biodefense research or not, should use to define an appropriate model.
The remainder of the book is divided into 11 chapters, each of which is dedicated to one of the select agents (glanders, plague, tularemia, Q fever, brucellosis, ricin) or a group of closely related agents (alphaviruses, orthopoxviruses, viral hemorrhagic fever viruses, botulinum toxins, and staphylococcal and streptococcal superantigens). Each chapter usually contains a basic overview of the biology of the organism or toxin, a brief discussion of the disease processes induced by the agent, any available vaccine or therapeutic drug that would mitigate that disease, and, most important, a concise review of the animal models that have been developed to support the study of that agent. These chapters are adequately supported by current and historical references. The organization of the book may have benefited if each chapter had followed the same format; this would have ensured consistency in the provision of information and made reference between chapters less problematic.
The editor notes in the book’s Preface that the primary aims of the second edition, like the first, are to share science, to advance science, and to minimize the number of animals required for use by reducing unnecessary duplication of effort in animal model development and use. The authors have succeeded in their goal; this unique consolidation of animal models for select agent study makes the second edition of Biodefense Research Methodology and Animal Models necessary reading for anyone engaging in biodefense research.