New technique helps link complex mouse behaviors to genes that influence them

Mice are one of the most commonly used laboratory organisms, widely used to study everything from autism to infectious diseases. Yet genomic studies in mice have lagged behind those in humans. In a study, researchers used 1,200 outbred mice, which are more similar to a natural population, to test a new cost-effective technique to search for specific genes linked with 66 different physical and behavioral traits.