‘Dirty’ mice better than lab-raised mice for studying human disease
Immune system behaves differently for rodents kept in sterile environments
Don’t blame lab mice for shortfalls in their ability to mimic human immune systems — blame their upbringing.
Mice with more experience fighting pathogens have immune system reactions more like humans’, conclude two studies published online April 20. “Dirty” mice bought from pet stores or caught in the wild have more humanlike immune systems than clean lab mice do, researchers report in Nature. And in Cell Host & Microbe, scientists find that infecting lab mice with a series of viruses and parasites alters their immune responses to be similar to those of dirty mice and humans.