Moving Forward: Recent Developments for the Ferret Biomedical Research Model
Randy A. Albrecht,
Wen-Chun Liu,
Andrea J. Sant,
S. Mark Tompkins,
Andrew Pekosz,
Victoria Meliopoulos,
Sean Cherry,
Paul G. Thomas,
Stacey Schultz-Cherry
Affiliations
Randy A. Albrecht
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
Wen-Chun Liu
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
Andrea J. Sant
David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA
S. Mark Tompkins
Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
Andrew Pekosz
W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Victoria Meliopoulos
Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Sean Cherry
Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Paul G. Thomas
Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Stacey Schultz-Cherry
Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
ABSTRACT Since the initial report in 1911, the domestic ferret has become an invaluable biomedical research model. While widely recognized for its utility in influenza virus research, ferrets are used for a variety of infectious and noninfectious disease models due to the anatomical, metabolic, and physiological features they share with humans and their susceptibility to many human pathogens. However, there are limitations to the model that must be overcome for maximal utility for the scientific community. Here, we describe important recent advances that will accelerate biomedical research with this animal model.
