title: The origins and uses of mouse outbred stocks.
abstract: Outbred mouse stocks, often used in genetics, toxicology and pharmacology research, have been generated in rather haphazard ways. Understanding the characteristics of these stocks and their advantages and disadvantages is important for experimental design. In many studies these mice are used inappropriately, wasting animals' lives and resources on suboptimal experiments. Recently, however, researchers from the field of complex trait analysis have capitalized on the genetics of outbred stocks to refine the identification of quantitative trait loci. Here we assess the most widely used outbred stocks of mice and present guidelines for their use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chia
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Achilli
authors.forename: Michael F W
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Festing
authors.forename: Elizabeth M C
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D021461:Animals, Outbred Strains; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable