See How They Run

Date: November 23, 1998Tools Breeders of transgenic mice assist researchers by isolating genotypes of significant interest and maintaining a ready supply of laboratory animals. Mountains will go into labour, and a silly little mouse will be born. -Horace, Roman poet Rodents have been the bane of human civilization from its inception. From the infestations of the great Roman granaries at Alexandria to the Mongol trading routes that brought the Himalayan brown rat and its constant companion

Written byBrent Johnson

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Date: November 23, 1998

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Breeders of transgenic mice assist researchers by isolating genotypes of significant interest and maintaining a ready supply of laboratory animals.

Mountains will go into labour,
and a silly little mouse will be born.

Rodents have been the bane of human civilization from its inception. From the infestations of the great Roman granaries at Alexandria to the Mongol trading routes that brought the Himalayan brown rat and its constant companion the Black Plague into Europe, mouse and rat populations have flourished wherever humankind has taken root. Throughout history, where people went, rodents were preparing a place for them, or vice versa. Living on seed grain, devouring cattle and chicken feed, and nestling in bedding and linen, mice have been master scavengers.

-Horace, Roman poet

For once, human beings have turned the tables on these diminutive pests, making their appetite for reproduction a positive benefit ...

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