Table 1 Recommendations for the conduct of animal studies to evaluate GE crops[101]
From: GMOs in animal agriculture: time to consider both costs and benefits in regulatory evaluations
Animals (species/categories) | Number of animals (coefficient of variation 4 to 5%) | Duration of experiments | Composition of diets | Measurements/endpoints |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Poultry for meat production | 10-12 pens per treatment with 9–12 birds per pen | 5 wk or more | Balanced diets | Feed intake, gain, feed conversion, metabolic parameters, body composition |
Poultry for egg production | 12-15 replications per treatment with 3–5 layers per pen | 18-40 wk of age, at least three 28-d phases | Balanced diets | Feed intake, egg production, feed conversion, egg quality |
Swine | 6-9 replications per treatment with 4 or more pigs per replication | Piglets (7–12 kg) 4–6 wk Growers (15–25 kg) 6–8 wk | Balanced diets | Feed intake, gain, feed conversion, metabolic parameters, carcass quality |
Growing and finishing ruminants | 6-10 replications per treatment with 6 or more cattle per replication | 90-120 d | Balanced diets | Feed intake, grain, feed conversion, carcass data, metabolic parameters |
Lactating dairy cows | 12-16 cows per treatment 28 cows per treatment | Latin square 28 d periods Randomized block design | Balanced diets | Feed intake, milk performance and composition, body weight, body condition score (BCS), cell counts in milk, animal health |