40 years as the animals’ advocate
Ket Hansen was fortunate enough to become a veterinary technician apprentice at the Faculty of Health Sciences in 1984, and she recently received the King’s Medal of Merit for many years of service to the animals and the health research at SDU.
Lucky. That word comes up often when you talk to Ket Hansen about the 40 years she has worked as a veterinary technician at SDU.
Ever since she began her apprenticeship at the Biomedical Laboratory (BML) in 1984, she has felt lucky in her working life.
When she was 19 and interested in horse riding, she got the chance to work with animals. Although the job opportunities for veterinary technicians were scarce in the 1980s, she managed to get a job at the Biomedical Laboratory after completing her apprenticeship. As work with laboratory animals developed in the 1990s, she was offered the opportunity to specialise in transgenic mice and work with researchers to develop research in diseases.
- I genuinely believe that I’ve been really lucky. I was in the right place at the right time, both when an apprentice was needed in the animal house facility and when we started working with transgenic mice at the University. In this way, my working life has been full of development. I have had the opportunity to constantly refine my processes, improve my skills and approach the task of animal care with great meticulousness, says Ket Hansen.
Specialised in mice
When Ket Hansen started as a veterinary technician, she looked after many different animals, but during the 1990s she specialised in working with mice – care and breeding as well as genetics.
– When researchers at the University introduced genetically engineered mouse strains, all my colleagues looked to me because I had completed the veterinary technician programme. So in 1998, I became a mouse specialist and for many years I worked closely with the researchers to set up breeding programmes so that they got exactly the mice they needed to study the effects of different genes on health, she says and elaborates:
– Over the years, mice have proven to be incredibly good laboratory animals, and they are among the most used laboratory animals today, in part because they are easier to work with genetically – unlike rats, for example.
And in 2019, when the relocation of the animal house facility to the New SUND was planned and prepared, Ket Hansen’s considerable expertise in mice was of course needed once again. She became part of a team tasked with building an entirely new population of mouse strains – free from viral diseases and parasites – through artificial insemination of female mice.
How do you feel that the mice are being used for experiments?
- To me, basic research that can help cure diseases in humans and make our lives better is crucial. I see laboratory animals as indispensable if we are to develop treatments that ensure good health for humans, for example in relation to vaccines and many other medicines, she explains and emphasises:
– But of course, we must do all that we can to use as few laboratory animals as possible, and we are constantly developing based on the principles of reduction, refinement and replacement. For instance, rubber rats are used when students learn how to dose via a feeding tube or take blood samples, we replace animal experiments with computer models, and researchers collaborate and arrange to use the same mouse strains for different projects.
A fun and interesting animal
When you see Ket Hansen with the mice in the animal house facility today, it is clear that mice are special to her.
– The mouse is a fun and interesting animal, in particular the NRMI mice are really cute and curious and nice to work with, she says and continues:
– The essence of my work is to make sure that the animals are cared for properly and meticulously. We are committed to minimising discomfort to the animals. For example, we feed the mice Nutella with pain relief before they undergo surgery, and they really like it. Here at BML, we call ourselves the animals’ advocates, she says and emphasises:
- For me, working as a veterinary technician is perfect because I am lucky enough to have contact with animals, researchers and good colleagues, all of whom are indispensable for the animal house facility to function.
Biomedical Laboratory in brief
The Biomedical Laboratory is the central animal testing facility for the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Science and Odense University Hospital. The department participates in experimental biomedical research, surgical skills courses, education and research in animal experimentation at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense University Hospital and regional hospitals.
The animal experiments at the University of Southern Denmark follow current legislation and the rules set by the Danish Animal Experiments Inspectorate.
More about mice in research
Mice are the most widely used laboratory animals in the world, accounting for more than half of the world’s total number of laboratory animals. As a result, there is a vast amount of knowledge about the biology of mice.
Using mice also has the advantage that many techniques have been developed, so you can test them in many different ways.
For example, measurement methods have been developed specifically for measuring blood samples from mice but these methods are not necessarily applicable in other animal species.
Three important words in relation to mice as laboratory animals:
Mouse model: A mouse that can be used to study a specific disease in humans.
Transgenic: This means that the mouse genome is altered by inserting genes from humans, for example.
Mouse strain: Mice that have been bred for certain types of experiments made particularly suitable for such experiments through transgenic techniques.
Source: Videnskab.dk