What is the difference between inbred and outbred mice strain?
Inbred strains are created by inbreeding or mating brother/sister pairs over at least 20 generations, leading to mice that are ~99% homozygous at all loci. Outbred mice are bred specifically to maximize genetic diversity and heterozygosity within a population.
What is albino mice?
The B6 albino strain is a spontaneous albino mutant coisogenic C57BL/6 strain. The mice contain a mutation in the tyrosinase gene, and when homozygous for the mutation the coat color of the mice is albino rather than black. To Charles River in 2009 from NCI.
Why are albino mice used in experiments?
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.
What are BALB cJ mice?
The BALB/c mouse is among the most widely used inbred models used in biomedical research, and is particularly utilized in immunology and infectious disease research. Their ability to produce plasma cell tumors within soft tissue is important in the production of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).
What is outbred mouse?
Like inbred mouse strains, outbred mouse stocks have an official definition: “a closed population (for at least four generations) of genetically variable animals that is bred to maintain maximum heterozygosity”2. The goal in maintaining an outbred stock is usually to minimize genetic change.
What are diversity outbred mice?
The Diversity Outbred (DO) stock is a genetically diverse mouse resource and may be used as a tool for high resolution genetic mapping and validation of previously identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs) linked to disease susceptibility, drug resistance or behavioral phenotypes.
What are white mice called?
classification of deer mouse maniculatus is sometimes called the white-footed mouse and has the most extensive geographic distribution of any North American rodent.
Why are so many mice albino?
But getting to the original question, most lab mice are white because they are albino. They are albino from 1000+ generations of inbreeding which brings out that recessive gene. Although most lab mice are really pigmented, the tv and news crews have a tendency to only show the albino/white strains on their reports.
Why are albino mice so common?
But, albino mice are often seen in scientific studies as lab animals. They’re popular because they are relatively cheap to care for, they can reproduce quickly, and they have a surprisingly high genetic similarity to humans.
Are BALB C immunodeficient?
BALB/c is an albino, immunodeficient laboratory-bred strain of the house mouse from which a number of common substrains are derived. Now over 200 generations from New York in 1920, BALB/c mice are distributed globally, and are among the most widely used inbred strains used in animal experimentation.
What is the meaning of outbred?
to produce offspring through sexual relations outside a particular family or tribe. 2. to breed (animals that are not closely related) or (of such animals) to be bred.
What is an outbred mouse?
Outbred mice are called stocks, which are defined as a closed population (for at least four generations) of genetically variable mice that are bred to maintain maximal heterozygosity. From: Laboratory Animal Medicine (Third Edition), 2015
How old are mouse Inbreds?
Evidence from the uniformity of mitochondrian DNA suggests that most of the common inbred mouse strains were probably derived from a single breeding female about 150–200 years ago.”
What are the characteristics of an inbred mouse?
As a general rule, inbred mice tend to have longer gestation periods and smaller litters than outbred and hybrid mice. The young are called pups and weigh 0.5–1.5 g (0.018–0.053 oz) at birth, are hairless, and have closed eyelids and ears.
Are all laboratory mouse strains inbred?
Many (but not all) laboratory strains are inbred. The different strains are identified with specific letter-digit combinations; for example C57BL/6 and BALB/c. The first such inbred strains were produced in 1909 by Clarence Cook Little, who was influential in promoting the mouse as a laboratory organism.