I conducted a literature review of articles pertaining to the history and treatment of rats. After outlining all of the relevant connections, I argue that as a result of people's conceptions about rats, rats do not receive the same respect and protections afforded other animals, such as cats and dogs, in the laboratory and beyond. I present both negative and positive conceptions about rats and the realities of these conceptions. Finally, I talk about the changes that need to take place in laboratory research, why animals are still used in research today, and the alternatives that exist to animal models.

Ultra-short-pulse (USP) lasers in the visible range have been shown to have widespread sterilizing effects on pathogens, which is believed to be caused by mechanical perturbations induced in the pathogen that disrupt essential processes leading to inactivation. This paper demonstrates a complete inactivation of Zika virus, a single-stranded enveloped RNA virus, using USP-laser technology and adds to the growing body of literature on the effectiveness of USP-laser inactivation. The paper also surveys previous inactivation studies to draw inferences about the nature of the Zika virus inactivation. We suggest that the method of inactivation in Zika virus is the selective amalgamation of viral capsid proteins into a nonfunctional mass of proteins because of the laser-induced vibrations, which mechanically prevents the release of viral RNA. The survey of similar inactivation experiments also supports the notion that the viral antigens might be unaffected by USP-laser inactivation, justifying the exploration of vaccine development using USP-laser inactivated Zika virus.