Using mice from different breeding sites fails to improve replicability of results from single-laboratory studies

Jaric, Ivana; Voelkl, Bernhard; Amrein, Irmgard; Wolfer, David P; Novak, Janja; Detotto, Carlotta; Weber-Stadlbauer, Ulrike; Meyer, Urs; Manuella, Francesca; Mansuy, Isabelle M; Würbel, Hanno

doi:10.1038/s41684-023-01307-w

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Jaric, I., Voelkl, B., Amrein, I., Wolfer, D. P., Novak, J., Detotto, C., Weber-Stadlbauer, U., Meyer, U., Manuella, F., Mansuy, I. M., & Würbel, H. (2024). Using mice from different breeding sites fails to improve replicability of results from single-laboratory studies. Lab Animal, 53(1), 18–22. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41684-023-01307-w

Abstract

Theoretical and empirical evidence indicates that low external validity due to rigorous standardization of study populations is a cause of poor replicability in animal research. Here we report a multi-laboratory study aimed at investigating whether heterogenization of study populations by using animals from different breeding sites increases the replicability of results from single-laboratory studies. We used male C57BL/6J mice from six different breeding sites to test a standardized against a heterogenized (HET) study design in six i