Germ free life : gnotobiotic animals, isolators and their use in basic studies, veterinary research and clinical medicine.

The foetus in utero is biologically sterile, yet almost from the moment of birth the organism begins to develop a highly complex intestinal bacterial flora essential for the maintenance of independent life. This video explains and demonstrates the use of plastic isolators to create a completely sterile environment in which gnotobiotic ("germ free") animals are reared, in order to study the effects of intestinal microorganisms on nutrition, drug metabolism and immune responses. It also shows the use of plastic isolators in the hopsital treatment of patients with immunological deficiencies, or who are undergoing transplant surgery.