All institutions using vertebrate animals for research or instruction must establish an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) to oversee and evaluate the institution’s animal care and use program. This committee at UC Berkeley, known as the Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC), falls under the purview of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. With accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, International (AAALAC), a PHS Assurance, and registration with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Animal Care and Use program at the UC Berkeley campus is serious about setting, achieving and maintaining high standards for animal care and use.

Normal levels of the protein, myostatin, inhibit muscles from growing too large (left); however, a reduction in these levels leads to a muscular phenotype known as myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy (right).