Mapping the rat genome opens new paths in biomedical research

摘要

The rat, throughout history, has never attracted many admirers, but in the 19th century its image improved. Long reviled for devouring stores of grain, carrying plague, and biting babies, rats found a nobler calling in the late 1800s. They became the favored research animal of scientists. Soon there emerged the pink-skinned, red-eyed, furry white creature known as the laboratory rat, a humble soul that has yielded new insights into everything from cancer to cocaine addiction.