Rama [creativecommons license] via Wikimedia CommonsAnimal models of human disorders are often used for testing therapeutic drugs, but in some cases, the results fail to translate into clinically relevant treatments, a growing concern for biomedical research. Scientists are working hard to identify and address the causes underlying such clinical failures. Among them are Ehud Fonio (Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel), Yoav Benjamini and Ilan Golani (both of Tel Aviv University, Israel), who recently reported that the standard set-up used for studying chronic anxiety disorders is flawed in several ways. The typical study design measures anxiety in the wrong mouse at the wrong time, claims the group (PLoS One 7, e48414; 2012 and Nat. Methods 9, 1167–1170; 2012).
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