Study identifies unexpected mutation in commonly used research mice.....

Science news: Study identifies unexpected mutation in commonly used research mice: Previously undetected mutation in a subline of C57BL/6 mice could compromise results of many previous studies

 A strain of inbred mice commonly used for the creation of so-called knockout animals has been found to carry a previously undetected mutation that could affect the results of immune system research studies.

Journal Reference:

1. Vinay S. Mahajan, Ezana Demissie, Hamid Mattoo, Vinay Viswanadham, Ajit Varki, Robert Morris, Shiv Pillai. Striking Immune Phenotypes in Gene-Targeted Mice Are Driven by a Copy-Number Variant Originating from a Commercially Available C57BL/6 Strain. Cell Reports, May 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.04.080