RandoMice, a novel, user-friendly randomization tool in animal research.
Careful design of experiments using living organisms (e.g. mice) is of critical importance from both an ethical and a scientific standpoint. Randomization should, whenever possible, be an integral part of such experimental design to reduce bias thereby increasing its reliability and reproducibility....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237096 |
| _version_ | 1818678451595378688 |
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| author | Robin van Eenige Peternella S Verhave Peter J Koemans Ivo A C W Tiebosch Patrick C N Rensen Sander Kooijman |
| author_facet | Robin van Eenige Peternella S Verhave Peter J Koemans Ivo A C W Tiebosch Patrick C N Rensen Sander Kooijman |
| author_sort | Robin van Eenige |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Careful design of experiments using living organisms (e.g. mice) is of critical importance from both an ethical and a scientific standpoint. Randomization should, whenever possible, be an integral part of such experimental design to reduce bias thereby increasing its reliability and reproducibility. To keep the sample size as low as possible, one might take randomization one step further by controlling for baseline variations in the dependent variable(s) and/or certain known covariates. To give an example, in animal experiments aimed to study atherosclerosis development, one would want to control for baseline characteristics such as plasma triglyceride and total cholesterol levels and body weight. This can be done by first defining blocks to create balance among groups in terms of group size and baseline characteristics, followed by random assignment of the blocks to the various control and intervention groups. In the current study we developed a novel, user-friendly tool that allows users to easily randomize animals into blocks and identify random block divisions that are well-balanced based on given baseline characteristics, making randomization time-efficient and easy-to-use. Here, we present the resulting software tool that we have named RandoMice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T09:15:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a488aa5e336144a0abafb29f47764532 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T09:15:29Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-a488aa5e336144a0abafb29f477645322022-12-21T21:55:01ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01158e023709610.1371/journal.pone.0237096RandoMice, a novel, user-friendly randomization tool in animal research.Robin van EenigePeternella S VerhavePeter J KoemansIvo A C W TieboschPatrick C N RensenSander KooijmanCareful design of experiments using living organisms (e.g. mice) is of critical importance from both an ethical and a scientific standpoint. Randomization should, whenever possible, be an integral part of such experimental design to reduce bias thereby increasing its reliability and reproducibility. To keep the sample size as low as possible, one might take randomization one step further by controlling for baseline variations in the dependent variable(s) and/or certain known covariates. To give an example, in animal experiments aimed to study atherosclerosis development, one would want to control for baseline characteristics such as plasma triglyceride and total cholesterol levels and body weight. This can be done by first defining blocks to create balance among groups in terms of group size and baseline characteristics, followed by random assignment of the blocks to the various control and intervention groups. In the current study we developed a novel, user-friendly tool that allows users to easily randomize animals into blocks and identify random block divisions that are well-balanced based on given baseline characteristics, making randomization time-efficient and easy-to-use. Here, we present the resulting software tool that we have named RandoMice.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237096 |
| spellingShingle | Robin van Eenige Peternella S Verhave Peter J Koemans Ivo A C W Tiebosch Patrick C N Rensen Sander Kooijman RandoMice, a novel, user-friendly randomization tool in animal research. PLoS ONE |
| title | RandoMice, a novel, user-friendly randomization tool in animal research. |
| title_full | RandoMice, a novel, user-friendly randomization tool in animal research. |
| title_fullStr | RandoMice, a novel, user-friendly randomization tool in animal research. |
| title_full_unstemmed | RandoMice, a novel, user-friendly randomization tool in animal research. |
| title_short | RandoMice, a novel, user-friendly randomization tool in animal research. |
| title_sort | randomice a novel user friendly randomization tool in animal research |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237096 |
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