Research
“We want your mice” – urban rodents wanted
A caught mouse sits in a live trap. US researchers would probably be interested in her. photo
© Wolfgang Langenstrassen/dpa
US researchers are looking for city mice for a study. In focus: How do metropolitan residents differ from country bumpkins?
Condition: You must come from homes or businesses in the cities of New York, Philadelphia or Richmond. To do this, the research team would like to set up live traps in the homes of the volunteer participants and then collect the animals caught.
The researchers want to understand how the rodents have adapted to urban life. Among other things, this should clarify whether metropolitan mice are less shy of people and also have less stress in their presence. The project examines not only behavioral characteristics, but also physical differences – such as whether city mice are larger than rural mice. House mice (Mus musculus) have long been of great importance to science and are among the central laboratory animals in biomedical research. Because of their genetic proximity to humans, combined with easy genetic manipulation and short generation times, they are preferred animals for studies on everything from genetics to the development of diseases.