Journal
DISEASE MODELS & MECHANISMS
Volume 11, Issue 10, Pages -Publisher
COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/dmm.035360
Keywords
Husbandry; Diet; Environment; Stress; Mouse models; Human
Categories
Funding
- US National Institutes of Health [R01 AR049288, CA089713, R21 AR063781]
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The impact of the laboratory environment on animal models of human disease, particularly the mouse, has recently come under intense scrutiny regarding both the reproducibility of such environments and their ability to accurately recapitulate elements of human environmental conditions. One common objection to the use of mice in highly controlled facilities is that humans live in much more diverse and stressful environments, which affects the expression and characteristics of disease phenotypes. In this Special Article, we review some of the known effects of the laboratory environment on mouse phenotypes and compare them with environmental effects on humans that modify phenotypes or, in some cases, have driven genetic adaptation. We conclude that the 'boxes' inhabited by mice and humans have much in common, but that, when attempting to tease out the effects of environment on phenotype, a controlled and, importantly, well-characterized environment is essential.
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