What species of mice are used in labs?
Laboratory mice are usually of the species Mus musculus. They are the most commonly used mammalian research model and are used for research in genetics, physiology, psychology, medicine and other scientific disciplines.
Which is a common strain of mouse used in research?
C57BL/6 is the most widely used inbred strain. Commonly used as a general purpose strain, C57BL/6 is also used for the generation of congenics carrying both spontaneous and induced mutations. C57BL/6J was the DNA source for the first high quality draft sequence of the mouse genome.
Why do laboratories use white mice?
Most of the mice and rats used in medical trials are inbred so that, other than sex differences, they are almost identical genetically. This helps make the results of medical trials more uniform, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Why do we use Swiss albino mice in laboratory?
Swiss albino mice Mus musculus is a widely used mouse strain, which is used for many research investigations due to its small size, short life span, and easy maintenance.
Are lab mice cloned?
Lab mice differ in important ways from the common house mouse (mus musculus) that humans have lived with for centuries. For one thing, lab mice are essentially genetic clones of each other—the product of generations of careful inbreeding.
What is mouse strain?
The name of a mouse strain reflects the unique phenotypic and genetic characteristics of widely used laboratory mice. The nomenclature of a strain may have punctuation marks, italics, superscripts, and various symbols – all of which mean something.
What is the difference between a lab rat and a lab mouse?
Rats are superior at maze-learning, show a higher level of strategy, and show more stable performance in longer cognitive tests. Mice exhibit less strategy in their maze-learning, often needing substantially more training and practice to learn a maze, and experience more stress and anxiety while doing so.
What are lab mice used for?
Lab mice—most often of the species Mus musculus, or house mouse—are biomedical swiss army knives, with genomes that are easily manipulated for genetic studies.
How many mouse strains are there?
More than 11,000 strains of mice are available from The Jackson Laboratory.
What do laboratory mice eat?
Examples Of Diets For Laboratory Mice Mice are omnivorous; they consume a wide variety of seeds, grains, and other plant material as well as feedstuffs of animal origin. Natural-ingredient diets for mice maintained in conventional and barrier environments are commercially available.
How long do lab mice live?
Laboratory Mouse In well-maintained specific-pathogen-free animals, C57BL/6 mice should live 26-30 months on average. Mice in nature live 3-4 months on average and up to 18 months at the most.