E-Mail
IMAGE: University of Illinois researchers have published updated, high-resolution pig brain atlases for young and adolescent animals. The atlases are a crucial component in biomedical research, especially related to infant brain. view more
Credit: University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
URBANA, Ill. - When scientists need to understand the effects of new infant formula ingredients on brain development, it s rarely possible for them to carry out initial safety studies with human subjects. After all, few parents are willing to hand over their newborns to test unproven ingredients.
Enter the domestic pig. Its brain and gut development are strikingly similar to human infants - much more so than traditional lab animals, rats and mice. And, like infants, young pigs can be scanned using clinically available equipment, including non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. That means researchers can test nutritional inte