In an Alternate Universe, Lab Mice Worked With Mendel
Highly inbred to achieve a local hipster scene level of uniformity, today’s laboratory mice don’t bear much resemblance to their wild cousins. Basically, the lab mouse was invented in the early years of the 20th century. And, before that, mice really didn’t have a major share of the lab animal market. But the mouse revolution might have happened earlier had it not been for one very uptight European bishop.
In the 19th century, Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, famously discovered the basics of how plants and animals pass simple physical traits on to their kids, via a series of breeding experiments using pea plants. But Mendel had started off studying the fur color of mice, instead. His efforts scandalized Bishop Anton Ernst Schaffgotsch, according to a 2003 article in the journal Genetics. Schaffgotsch, putting two and two together, reasoned that mice breeding would mean animals were having sex in Brother Gregor’s quarters. Apparently, plant sex in the garden was considered spiritually preferable, and Mendel turned his attention to the color and texture of peas. (Reposted from Boing Boing)
