Laboratory mice

Mice are the most commonly utilized animal research model with hundreds of established inbred, outbred, and transgenic strains. In the United States, they are not covered under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) (administered by the USDA, APHIS) as an animal. However, the Public Health Service Act (PHS) as administered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) does cover their humane treatment.

Mice are common experimental animals in biology and psychology primarily because they are mammals, and thus share a high degree of homology with humans. The mouse genome has been sequenced, and virtually all mouse genes have human homologs. They can also be manipulated in ways that would be considered unethical to do with humans (note Animal Rights). Mice are a primary mammalian model organism, as are rats.

There are many additional benefits of mice in laboratory research. Mice are small, inexpensive, easily maintained, and can reproduce quickly. Several generations of mice can be observed in a relatively short period of time. Mice are generally very docile if raised from birth and given sufficient human contact. However, certain strains have been known to be quite temperamental.

A knockout mouse is a genetically engineered mouse that has had one or more of its genes made inoperable through a gene knockout.

About

A mouse (plural mice) is a rodent that belongs to one of numerous species of small mammals. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (Mus musculus). It is found in nearly all countries and, as the laboratory mouse, serves as an important model organism in biology, and is also a popular pet. The American white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) also sometimes live in houses. These species of mice live commensally with humans.

Although they may live up to two years in the lab, the average mouse in the wild lives only about 5 months, primarily due to heavy predation. Cats, wild dogs, foxes, birds of prey, snakes and even certain kinds of insects have been known to prey heavily upon mice. Nevertheless, due to its remarkable adaptability to almost any environment, and its ability to live commensally with humans, the mouse is regarded to be the third most successful mammalian species living on Earth today, after humans and the rat.

Mice can be harmful pests, damaging and eating crops and spreading diseases through their parasites and feces. In western North America, breathing dust that has come in contact with mouse feces has been linked to the deadly hantavirus. The original motivation for the domestication of cats is thought to have been for their predation of mice and their relatives, the rats.