Mice used in research labs live in controlled environments with sheltered immune systems. In a recent study, MSI PIs and their research groups and colleagues show that mice that are exposed to a more unhygienic environment, by being housed with “dirty” pet-store mice, have immune systems that are more like those of humans. This has implications for research, by making mouse models more applicable to humans.
MSI PIs Associate Professor David Masopust (Center for Immunology; Microbiology and Immunology) and Professor Stephen Jameson (Center for Immunology; Laboratory Medicine and Pathology) are co-authors on the study, which appeared in the journal Nature (Normalizing the environment recapitulates adult human immune traits in laboratory mice).
An article also appears the OVPR’s Inquiry blog.