Examples

Rabbits

Patent # 6,924,413 (8/2/05)—Experimental animals for evaluation of therapeutic effects on corneal epithelial damages, Biochemical and Pharmacological Laboratories, Inc. (Tondabayashi, Japan)

The subject of the current AAVS challenge to the USPTO, this patent claims rabbits, as well as any other non-human mammals or fowl, such as monkeys, dogs, and cats, whose eyes have been fixed open with glue or retractors and are then treated with a water-absorbing substance (e.g., powdered sugar or salt) for 20-60 minutes until their corneas are sufficiently damaged. According to the patent holder, these animals can serve as models to test treatments for "dry eye" disease in humans.

Beagle Dogs

Patent # 6,444,872 (9/3/02)—Large animal model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in an immunocompromised host, Board of Regents, The University of Texas System (Austin, TX)

The subject of a 2004 AAVS challenge to the USPTO, this patent involves claims on beagle dogs who have been exposed to radiation in order to virtually destroy their immune systems, and whose lung lobes are then infected with a particular species of mold. According to the patent team, the dogs can then be used to test various drugs and to learn more about the mechanisms of this type of infection. Learn more about the beagle patent.

Cats (and others)

Patent # 5,679,005 (10/21/97)—Model of corrected transposition of the great arteries, Peter Einstein, (Birmingham, AL)

Cats, non-human primates, sheep, pigs, goats, cattle, and dogs are claimed under this patent. It covers animals whose healthy hearts were surgically altered to mimic a "fatal human infant condition" called transposition of the great arteries (TGA) and then immediately surgically "corrected," thus resulting in unusual circulatory connections to mimic "congenitally corrected TGA." The patented animals are used in surgical training and TGA-related experiments and research.

Chimpanzees (and others)

Patent # 6,018,096 (1/25/00)—Animal model for engraftment, proliferation and differentiation of human hematopoietic stem cells, Surrogen, Inc. (Vancouver, Canada)

This patent makes claims on non-human primates (specifically baboons and chimpanzees), mice, rats, rabbits, cats, dogs, pigs, and sheep who are used to harvest human hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells after undergoing a series of invasive procedures. The patented procedures include exposing animals to enough radiation to destroy virtually all their bone marrow, and consequently, their immune system. Following the methods, the animals are then injected with spleen colony cells from a member of their species, bone marrow stromal cells that have been passed through humans, and human hematopoietic stem cells that were obtained from bone marrow fractions. The patent states that after the animals are treated in this manner, scientists can obtain human hematopoietic cells from the chimeric animal (i.e., one who also has cells of another species).

Macaque monkeys

Patent # 5,849,994 (12/15/98)—Animal model for HIV-1 induced disease, University of Kansas Medical Center (Kansas City, KS)

Partially funded by the National Institutes of Health, the claims under this patent include macaque monkeys infected with a combined Simian-Human Immunodeficiency Virus (SHIV) that causes them to develop symptoms associated with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) within 32 weeks after being infected. In formulating the virus, other macaques were also used to obtain monkey bone marrow so that the virus could be passed through monkey bone marrow cells, thus making it more virulent prior to infecting the animals in the experiments. The patent also makes claims on any modification of this experiment.

Mice (and others)

Patent # 5,639,939 (6-17-97)—Chimeric immunocompromised mammal comprosing vascularized fetal organ tissue, The Board of Trustees for the Leland Stanford Junior University (Palo Alto, CA)

This patent involves the transplantation of human fetal organ tissue derived from aborted human fetuses into young mice who were obtained from a breeder that had genetically manipulated them to have a severely compromised or weakened immune system. The patent team views the mice as 'models' whom they can inject with infectious agents and test treatments, utilize to harvest products such as human antibodies, and use to learn more about physiological processes.

Pigs

Patent # 6,580,016 (6-17-03)—Animal model for detection of vulnerable plaques, Medivas, LLC (San Diego, CA)

The last claim on this patent is for a "porcine model" of a vulnerable plaque, a thickened arterial vessel wall resulting from fatty deposits that is susceptible to destabilization and can lead to myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, or stroke. Because "animals do not form plaque spontaneously," the experimenters induced this plaque in pigs by injecting their coronary arteries with a lipid comprised of olive oil and albumin.