Specific Knowledge:
G.T. Korbin on Lab Mouse Handling

CW: discussion of animal testing

Everyone knows the real heroes of science are the tiniest scientists, the mighty rodents who give their lives to keep us healthy. Their contribution to the field is so prevalent that several shows, books, and movies have included them in their lab settings, from sci-fi and superhero movies like The Amazing Spider-Man, to more contemporary shows like Community. They’re an adorable companion to vent to, a docile first step toward scientific grandeur, a friend. What most media fail or choose not to recognize, however, is that, although mice are definitely heroes, they tend more towards the Iron Man kind.

Hard to control and high maintenance. 

From dramatic performances of illness to drag you to the lab on a weekend, only to look at you at their most healthy and energetic—psych! we’re fine! why did you come all the way out here?—to frequent attempts at jailbreaking, they definitely make for an adventurous few weeks or months when you’re charged with taking care of them. Different countries might show variations around the rules and regulations regarding animal work, and facilities don’t always have the same infrastructure available, but the basic guidelines should still follow the same logic. Even your mad scientist trying to take over the world should have some standards as too many evil plans may fail by faulty data!

Cleanliness is key. If anything accidentally infects your animals, the data becomes unreliable, and if your rodents become compromised, chances are other people’s animals will too. For that reason, animal facilities are enclosed spaces with special access people need training to obtain. If any of your characters manage to pass their certification to work there, they’ll still need to take precautions when entering. Before your evil minions can go feed their tiny, best friends, they need to make themselves as sterile as possible too. This can be done either using an actual shower, or an air shower. Air shower protocol may vary, from the number of people to the… state of undress. While some places allow you to be gowned beforehand, in some places it’s not uncommon to have workers go in in their undergarments and change into scrubs on the other side. Suffering through extremely cold gusts of air for a minute in your underwear can be an excellent bonding activity for the villain and their minions! The earlier you go and thus the more unused the shower has been that day, the colder it’s going to be! Gloves are mandatory, and if you carry your phone, it needs to be in a clear bag that must remain closed. Workers are also discouraged from wearing strong perfumes as mice are sensitive to scent, and if you have any rodent pet at home, you probably won’t be allowed to work with lab animals at all, because you don’t know what your pets may carry. Dr House performing experiments on his pet rat in House MD might have been the least of his malpractices, but the claim that he ‘knows he’s healthy’ wouldn’t pass inspection in a real lab setting. In his defense, he would have never managed to obtain a lab rat in time. In not his defense, please don’t experiment on your pets. 

All animal work must happen under these clean conditions. If any animals leave the facility (and they generally don’t), it means they’re not expected to return. Unfortunately, your favorite test subject cannot be your new lab partner on your desk. In all fairness, you don’t want them, either.

Here’s a trade secret: lab mice can be mean. An understandable state, all things considered, but one that often doesn’t translate in media. While I’m sympathetic to the idea of being extremely distracted while Andrew Garfield is holding you in the palm of his hands, that mouse in The Amazing Spider-Man would have bit him and run off the second Dr Connors’ needle got anywhere near it. Cupping only works with very well-behaved mice for transfer purposes. If you’re to inject them, you need to scruff them. In general, not only will mice try to climb out of the cage the second you’re not paying attention because you’re weighing their roommates, the boys will fight each other, the girls might de-whisker one another for dominance, and some breeds are so aggressive I’ve heard the phrase “metal gloves to handle them” used. I’m still afraid to ask. Even the training breeds, often the most docile ones, will take a shot at freedom if you let them. If your main character must absolutely befriend a lab animal, a mouse is unlikely to sit down and let them. 

For that purpose, rats may be your best bet, though they’re not as commonly used in research. Rats are bigger, perhaps to accommodate all their love. They can be calmer and sweet, and they will nest on the crook of your scrub-wearing elbow if you let them. In fact, it’s recommended that you do, as they much prefer to be familiar with you before you work together, to reduce their stress levels. Mice, to put it simply, couldn’t care less that you’re there.

They’re still adorable, however, even when they bite. (Any unlucky minion to feel the force of their teeth should remain calm and place the creature back in its cage before tending to the injury. Please do not toss the mouse.)     

Finally, as a caveat, modern science is striving to reduce animal experiments as much as possible. Through ethics applications, thorough experiment planning and the emergence of new models, like 3D-cell cultures and organoids, the use of animals is reserved for data that cannot be obtained otherwise. Scientists are always grateful and careful with the sacrifices they were entrusted with—so much so that scientific papers usually say sacrificed when referring to their animal lab partners. While they’re in their care, they’re as comfortable as they can be under the circumstances. Mice in loud, chaotic environments and cages empty of enrichments like the one shown in Community would be very stressed, while the death of the mouse in Life wasn’t half as shocking as the fact that it was kept restrained the entire time! Do not keep your mice restrained. Give them bedding to work on their nest-building instincts and a little house to sleep and hide in. Keeping mice happy is not only humane, but it reduces the risk of stress affecting any results.

So next time your main character needs to test their world cure (or their world destruction, scientist’s choice) on a smaller scale, make sure their data hasn’t been compromised by terrible lab conduct. Keep their mice clean, well taken care of, and preferably, in their cage.

GT Korbin is a SFF-H author originally from Greece, currently living in Ireland to pursue a career in STEM. With a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology, they split their time between writing and working as a medical researcher. Her short stories have been previously published in Andromeda Spaceways, the NoSleep podcast, the icarus writing collective, as well as various anthologies. To find out more, follow them on instagram @g.t.korbin or @gtkorbin.bsky.social.