The LAG-R framework (Laboratory Animal Genetic Reporting) has just been published in Nature Communications (Improving laboratory animal genetic reporting: LAG-R guidelines | Nature Communications). The LAG-R framework is a set of guidelines to support more complete documentation of the genetic make-up of animals that are used in research, with the aim of bolstering reproducibility, reliability, and overall scientific rigor.
The biomedical research community is addressing many different factors that lead to problems with reproducibility, including via the implementation of the PREPARE guidelines, which aim to improve experimental design, and the ARRIVE guidelines, which aim to improve reporting of animal research experiments. However, a need remains for a more comprehensive description of the genetics of research animals, as differences in genetic background that are too often perceived as subtle can have a significant impact on phenotype and genetic modifications are rarely fully documented.
The LAG-R guidelines have been developed by an international team that includes authors from 15 countries, working within a number of international consortia, including the Asian Mouse Mutagenesis Resource Association, the International Mammalian Genome Society, the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, the European Research Infrastructure for Modelling Human Diseases (INFRAFRONTIER), the International Society for Transgenic Technologies, the Mutant Mouse Resource & Research Centres, and Phenomics Australia.