Description: The laboratory mouse has long been the species of choice for many animal models of human diseases and for basic research areas (http:// jaxmice.jax.org/research/index.html). In part, this is because of the long-standing genetic resources available for the mouse, but now, also, the development of powerful new techniques for generation of mutations, analysis of complex traits, and high throughput data gathering have made the mouse the preeminent model for the study of human biology and disease