The woman pioneered the use of mice for science

On a small white farm in Granby (Massachusetts, USA), Abbie EC Lathrop has raised many small animals: ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs and white mice. In 1902, Mrs. Lathrop's mice became the first animal to be used in the laboratory for genetic research.

Benevolence with science

Abbie EC Lathrop was born in Illinois in 1868, she was one of Granby's parents with teachers. Lathrop taught himself at home until he was 16, after which she had two years of formal education. At 19, Lathrop was a teacher but because of anemia, a disease from red blood cells, she retired after only a few years of teaching.

In 1900, Lathrop moved to Granby and began working in poultry farming. Quick business failed. Lathrop switched to rats. In the United States and Britain, domesticated rats became popular at the beginning of the 20th century, and they were kept as pets or circus acts. Mrs. Lathrop started her business with two gerbiles, including a male and female that she tamed from wild mice. She raised until the herds of mice reached over ten thousand children, the mice lived in wooden boxes, they ate oats and crackers.

The drawing of Abbie EC Lathrop in Granby, dated October 5, 1913.

As a skilled animal breeder, Lathrop was able to pick out the favorite traits of pets. In 1902, geneticist William Ernest Castle of the Bussey Research Institute (Harvard University) ordered the first mice from Mrs. Lathrop. Castle is also very interested in the genetics of mammals, discovering that mice with short lifespans are an ideal specimen to study.

And Ms. Lathrop quickly set up her business to provide lab rats. Biological historian Karen Rader, author of "Mouse Production: Animal Standardization for American Biomedical Research" , said: "Mouse breeders and their fans often interested in captivity before scientists care about mice as an experimental creature When developing genetics, geneticists quickly realize that they are very interested in animals. beautiful, they are archives of natural-origin animals - places where genetic control activities take place ".

Very quickly, Lathrop entrepreneur became a reliable laboratory mouse supplier.

Co-author of research on cancer

At Bussey Research Institute, geneticist and paleontologist CC Little is interested in experimental mice. With rats from Granby's farm, Mrs. Lathrop, student Little began experimenting with the innate mouse lines and created successful stable varieties of mouse - something ecologists and genetics like. called "pure lines".

Experimental mice became an invaluable research model for genetics, medicine, neurology and more.

In 1909, Litte began experimenting with mouse breeding and produced a new stable strain (diluted hairy rat). Litte points out that inbreeding can preserve genetic variations from the same genetic source. In cancer research this means that a stable hybrid strain is used to study the genetic and biological nature of cancer in hybrid mice with cancer cells - this perception is still widespread until Today, at the same time, Ms. Lathrop also started studying cancer. When she discovered that there were lesions on the skin of some mice, she asked her clients what the sign was. The University of Pennsylvania's renowned pathologist Leo Loeb said that skin lesions are a sign of cancer.

The collaboration of Lathrop and Loeb created a pioneering direction in cancer research. The Lathrop-Loeb duo discovered that the proportion of cancerous tumors varied greatly among hybrid mouse strains, and concluded that if high tumor strains were crossed with mice with low tumor, the offspring will be strains with high tumors.

The duo also showed a link between hormones and cancer: tumors in mice were sterilized, while tumors increased in pregnant mice. Between 1913 and 1919, the duo Lathrop-Loeb were co-authors of 10 scientific papers based on their experiments, which appeared in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Experimental Medicine and Journal of cancer research.

In 1929, Mr. Little founded the Jackson Laboratory (JAX), today a famous cancer research center and a leading provider of experimental mice with over 7000 unique genetic strains. Currently JAX continues to supply lab rats from Mrs. Lathrop's Granby farm.