Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2018

JAX Source

Dis Model Mech 2018 Oct 1; 11(10):dmm035360

Volume

11

Issue

10

ISSN

1754-8411

PMID

30194139

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.035360

Grant

AR049288,CA089713,AR063781

Abstract

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.

Comments

The authors thank Dr Gavin Jarvis for pointing out the similarities between experimental heterogenization and population pharmacokinetic strategies, and Dr Lillian Garrett for stimulating discussions on mouse behavior. We thank Profs. Lenny Schultz and Steve Brown, and Dr Bonnie Lyons for helpful comments on the manuscript.

This is an Open Acess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

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