Genetic Animal Models: A Users Guide

The use of genetically specified animals to address fundamental questions in neuroscience continues to grow apace. In the early 1950s, (Mardones 1951 ) reported the development by selective breeding of strains of rats preferring and not preferring to drink alcohol. (McClearn and Rodgers 1959 ) reported that inbred mouse strains differed in their preference for 10% ethanol-in-tap water solutions. These pioneering studies represent the two methods still most frequently used today, selective breeding and the analysis of preexisting, defined genotypes (see below ).