Abstract

The laboratory mouse is widely used as a pilot organism in animal breeding research. R o b er ts (1965a) has ably discussed the rationale for mouse research as a model for animal breeding problems. Since a thorough review on this topic was published (R o b e r t s, 1965a, 1965b), research has intensified and it is not feasible to review the entire field in the space provided. Therefore, the objective of this paper will be to highlight research conducted since 1965 on the genetics of growth in the mouse. The reader is referred to recent reviews which specifically discuss research with the mouse and other laboratory animals designed to elucidate questions on the following topics: limits to artificial selection (R o b e r t s, 1966a), control populations (H i l l , 1972), genotype x environment interactions (P a n i and L a sl ey, 1972), maternal effects (L e g a t e s, 1972), correlated responses in body composition (S u th erla n d et al., 1973) and genetically transmitted obesity (B ray and Y o rk, 1971).

E. J Eisen

Proceedings of the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Volume 1, Madrid, Spain, 467–492, 1974