Improving laboratory mice diets to increase relevance to human populations

Abstract

Mouse models have been an invaluable resource for biomedical research and have been instrumental for advances in our understanding of biology and human disease. However, in using these models there is the inherent issue of the translatability of research findings to human populations. Some differences between humans and rodents can never be reconciled due to key differences in physiology. However, mice models have evolved over time through innovations in genetics and standardized diets, resulting in reduced variability across experiments. Developing mice diets that more closely emulate what humans eat will help increase the translational fidelity of mouse models to human populations. This review will focus on the role of basal laboratory diets for improving mouse models.