Mice are almost ideal for genetic research.
They are small, come of breeding age quickly and take about three weeks to have a litter. Large portions of the mouse and human genome are almost identical - and they get many of the same diseases as we do, for the same reasons, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, breast cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, glaucoma, epilepsy and obesity. Researchers from throughout the world use The Jackson Laboratory for genetic research tools and information. We turned to The Jackson Laboratory to help us get this new research tool out to the scientific community. By using this model, Dr. Stephen Davies of University College in London discovered that the protein produced by the Huntingtons disease gene forms abnormal, dense clumps in the nuclei of brain cells.