Germ-free animals are animals that have no microorganisms living in or on it. Such animals are raised within germ-free isolators in order to control their exposure to viral, bacterial or parasitic agents. When known strains of bacteria or microbiota are introduced to a germ-free animal, it is renamed as a gnotobiotic animal.

Germ-free animals are used in the study of probiotic research and other animal research requiring careful control of outside contaminants that can affect the experiment.

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