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Zhang et al. Ageing Neur Dis 2022;2:16 Ageing and
DOI: 10.20517/and.2022.15
Neurodegenerative
Diseases

Perspective Open Access

Genome-edited rabbit, a prospective alternative
model for neurological diseases

1,#
1,#
2,3
Zhongtian Zhang , Yuning Song , Liangxue Lai , Zhanjun Li 1
1
Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062,
Jilin, China.
2
Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, Institute of Zoonosis, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin
University, Changchun 130062, Jilin, China.
3
Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory (GRMH-GDL), Guangzhou 510005, Guangdong, China.
#
Contributed equally to this article.
Correspondence to: Prof. Zhanjun Li, Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science,
Jilin University, Changchun 130062, Jilin, China. Email: lizj_1998@jlu.edu.cn
How to cite this article: Zhang Z, Song Y, Lai L, Li Z. Genome-edited rabbit, a prospective alternative model for neurological
diseases. Ageing Neur Dis 2022;2:16. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/and.2022.15
Received: 7 Jun 2022 First Decision: 8 Jul 2022 Revised: 8 Sep 2022 Accepted: 15 Sep 2022 Published: 21 Sep 2022

Academic Editors: Weidong Le, Xiao-Jiang Li Copy Editor: Peng-Juan Wen Production Editor: Peng-Juan Wen

Abstract
Animal models have great importance in the research of human neurodegenerative diseases due to their value in
symptom mimicking, mechanism investigation, and preclinical tests. Although non-human primate and large
animal models have good performance in disease modeling due to their high maintenance cost and critical ethical
standards, rodent models are commonly used. Rodent models have been successfully applied in modeling many
neurological diseases; however, their genetic background, neuroanatomical features, and nervous system
development are different from those of humans. Moreover, the short lifespan and small body size of rodent
models also limit the monitoring of disease progression and observation of clinical symptoms in studying neuronal
disorders that are late-onset or have a long course of progression. In comparison with rodents, rabbits are
phylogenetically closer to humans and have closer similarities to humans in brain development, thus are an
alternate animal model for human neurological diseases.

Keywords: Neurodegenerative diseases, genome editing, animal model, rabbit, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s
disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
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