COMPLEX TRAIT ANALYSIS IN THE MOUSE: The Strengths, The Limitations and The Promise Yet To Come

Abstract
▪ Abstract In 1990, David Baltimore predicted that the 1990s would be the decade of the mouse ( 1 ). This certainly proved to be true: The mouse has contributed immensely to biological research through transgenic, embryonic stem cell (ES) knockout, and classical genetic technologies. But its usefulness as a model organism is by no means over; indeed it is still rising to its peak: The mouse as a model mammalian organism still has much to offer. This article reviews use of the mouse to dissect complex genetic traits using quantitative trait analysis, with a particular emphasis on medically important diseases.