Generic Homo sapiens and Unique Mus musculus: Establishing the Typicality of the Modeled and the Model Species

Barbara L. Finlay

doi:10.1159/000500111

Generic Homo sapiens and Unique Mus musculus: Establishing the Typicality of the Modeled and the Model Species

Brain Behavior and Evolution ◽

10.1159/000500111 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 93 (2-3) ◽

pp. 122-136 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Barbara L. Finlay

Keyword(s):

Neural Development ◽

Functional Organization ◽

Homo Sapiens ◽

Laboratory Mouse ◽

Mouse Strains ◽

Human Species ◽

Model Species ◽

Brain Mass ◽

Multiple Strategies ◽

Neural Architecture

The question of how complex human abilities evolved, such as language or face recognition, has been pursued by means of multiple strategies. Highly specialized non-human species have been examined analytically for formal similarities, close phylogenetic relatives have been examined for continuity, and simpler species have been analyzed for the broadest view of functional organization. All these strategies require empirical evidence of what is variable and predictable in both the modeled and the model species. Turning to humans, allometric analyses of the evolution of brain mass and brain components often return the interesting, but disappointing answer that volumetric organization of the human brain is highly predictable seen in its phylogenetic context. Reconciling this insight with unique human behavior, or any species-typical behavior, represents a serious challenge. Allometric analyses of the order and duration of mammalian neural development show that, while basic neural development in humans is allometrically predictable, conforming to adult neural architecture, some life history features deviate, notably that weaning is unusually early. Finally, unusual deviations in the retina and central auditory system in the laboratory mouse, which is widely assumed to be “generic,” as well as severe deviations from expected brain allometry in some mouse strains, underline the need for a deeper understanding of phylogenetic variability even in those systems believed to be best understood.

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Quantitating Aortic Atherosclerosis in Rabbits and Mice

Microscopy and Microanalysis ◽

10.1017/s1431927600008473 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 3 (S2) ◽

pp. 317-318

Author(s):

David A. Sanan ◽

Dale L. Newland

Keyword(s):

Gene Knockout ◽

Laboratory Mouse ◽

Lipoprotein Metabolism ◽

Wild Type Mouse ◽

Mouse Strains ◽

Chow Diet ◽

Homologous Genes ◽

Normal Chow ◽

Metabolism Gene ◽

Knockout Technology

Build-up of visible atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries is readily quantifiable. The mouse and the rabbit provide useful models for understanding the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis by investigating the effects of genetic and dietary perturbations.Although the wild type mouse does not develop atherosclerosis, atherosclerosis susceptibility genes have been identified in some laboratory mouse strains which do. Furthermore, transgenic technology and gene targeting have produced genetically modified mice that express various apolipoproteins, enzymes and cofactors involved in human lipoprotein metabolism. Gene “knockout” technology allows transgene expression without interference from homologous genes. One notable “knockout” mouse, deficient in apolipoprotein E, develops spontaneous atherosclerosis on a normal chow diet. Transgenic modulations of the atherosclerotic responses of these highly susceptible mice are more pronounced and easily measured. Small, cheap and fast breeding, mice are convenient animal models. But to make mice susceptible to atherosclerosis, their genetic background has to be so drastically altered that the resulting lipoprotein metabolism may not model the human metabolism accurately enough.

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Quantitative trait locus mapping identifies Col4a6 as a novel regulator of striatal dopamine level and axonal branching in mice

10.1101/2020.06.28.176206 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mélanie H. Thomas ◽

Yujuan Gui ◽

Pierre Garcia ◽

Mona Karout ◽

Christian Jaeger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Development ◽

Quantitative Trait ◽

Radial Glia ◽

Dorsal Striatum ◽

Striatal Dopamine ◽

Model Organisms ◽

Mouse Strains ◽

Dopamine Level ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Axonal Branching

AbstractThe features of dopaminergic neurons (DAns) of nigrostriatal circuitry are orchestrated by a multitude of yet unknown factors, many of them genetic. Genetic variation between individuals at baseline can lead to differential susceptibility to and severity of diseases. As decline of DAns, a characteristic of Parkinson’s disease, heralds a significant decrease in dopamine level, measuring dopamine can reflect the integrity of DAns. To identify novel genetic regulators of the integrity of DAns, we used the Collaborative Cross (CC) mouse strains as model system to search for quantitative trait loci (QTLs) related to dopamine levels in the dorsal striatum. The dopamine levels in dorsal striatum varied greatly in the eight CC founder strains, and the differences were inheritable in 32 derived CC strains. QTL mapping in these CC strains identified a QTL associated with dopamine level on chromosome X containing 393 genes. RNA-seq analysis of the ventral midbrain of two of the founder strains with large striatal dopamine difference (C57BL/6J and A/J) revealed 24 differentially expressed genes within the QTL. The protein-coding gene with the highest expression difference was Col4a6, which exhibited a 9-fold reduction in A/J compared to C57BL/6J, consistent with decreased dopamine levels in A/J. Publicly available single cell RNA-seq data from developing human midbrain suggests that Col4a6 is highly expressed in radial glia-like cells and neuronal progenitors, indicating possible involvement in neurogenesis. Interestingly, the lowered dopamine levels were accompanied by reduced striatal axonal branching of striatal DAns in A/J compared to C57BL/6J. Because Col4a6 is known to control axogenesis in non-mammal model organisms, we hypothesize that different dopamine levels in mouse dorsal striatum are due to differences in axogenesis induced by varying COL4A6 levels during neural development.

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MoG+: a database of genomic variations across three mouse subspecies for biomedical research

Mammalian Genome ◽

10.1007/s00335-021-09933-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Toyoyuki Takada ◽

Kentaro Fukuta ◽

Daiki Usuda ◽

Tatsuya Kushida ◽

Shinji Kondo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phenotypic Diversity ◽

Laboratory Mouse ◽

Genomic Analysis ◽

Inbred Strains ◽

Genetic Distances ◽

Mouse Strains ◽

Comparative Genomic ◽

Genome Database ◽

Data Resource ◽

Genomic Variations

AbstractLaboratory mouse strains have mosaic genomes derived from at least three major subspecies that are distributed in Eurasia. Here, we describe genomic variations in ten inbred strains: Mus musculus musculus-derived BLG2/Ms, NJL/Ms, CHD/Ms, SWN/Ms, and KJR/Ms; M. m. domesticus-derived PGN2/Ms and BFM/Ms; M. m. castaneus-derived HMI/Ms; and JF1/Ms and MSM/Ms, which were derived from a hybrid between M. m. musculus and M. m. castaneus. These strains were established by Prof. Moriwaki in the 1980s and are collectively named the “Mishima Battery”. These strains show large phenotypic variations in body size and in many physiological traits. We resequenced the genomes of the Mishima Battery strains and performed a comparative genomic analysis with dbSNP data. More than 81 million nucleotide coordinates were identified as variant sites due to the large genetic distances among the mouse subspecies; 8,062,070 new SNP sites were detected in this study, and these may underlie the large phenotypic diversity observed in the Mishima Battery. The new information was collected in a reconstructed genome database, termed MoG+ that includes new application software and viewers. MoG+ intuitively visualizes nucleotide variants in genes and intergenic regions, and amino acid substitutions across the three mouse subspecies. We report statistical data from the resequencing and comparative genomic analyses and newly collected phenotype data of the Mishima Battery, and provide a brief description of the functions of MoG+, which provides a searchable and unique data resource of the numerous genomic variations across the three mouse subspecies. The data in MoG+ will be invaluable for research into phenotype-genotype links in diverse mouse strains.

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Evolution of intentional teaching

The Oxford Handbook of Human Symbolic Evolution ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198813781.013.9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Gärdenfors ◽

Anders Högberg

Keyword(s):

Homo Sapiens ◽

Symbolic Language ◽

Human Species ◽

Evolution Of Language ◽

Archaeological Evidence ◽

Different Levels ◽

Teaching By Demonstration

Only among humans is teaching intentional, socially structured, and symbolically mediated. In this chapter, evidence regarding the evolution of the mindreading and communicative capacities underlying intentional teaching is reviewed. Play, rehearsal, and apprenticeship are discussed as central to the analyses of teaching. We present a series of levels of teaching. First of all, we separate non-intentional from intentional teaching. For non-intentional teaching, we discuss facilitation and approval/disapproval and analyze examples from non-human species. We then distinguish between six levels of intentional teaching: (1) intentional approval/disapproval, (2) drawing attention, (3) demonstrating, (4) communicating concepts, (5) explaining concept relations, and (6) narrating. We hypothesize that level after level has been added during the evolution of teaching. We analyze communicative requirements for the levels, concluding that displaced communication is required for level 4 and symbolic language only for levels 5 to 6. We focus on the role of demonstration and pantomime and argue that pantomime has been instrumental in the evolution of language. We present archaeological evidence for when the different levels of teaching emerge. We argue that learning Oldowan technology requires teaching by demonstration, and that learning Acheulean hand-axe technology requires communicating concepts. It follows that several levels of intentional teaching predate homo sapiens.

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Isolation and Insulation, 22000 BC–3000 BC

The Great Sea ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195323344.003.0008 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

David Abulafia

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Homo Sapiens ◽

Human Beings ◽

Human Species ◽

American School ◽

Wild Pigs ◽

Classical Studies ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Set Up ◽

Two Populations

Carved out millions of years before mankind reached its coasts, the Mediterranean Sea became a ‘sea between the lands’ linking opposite shores once human beings traversed its surface in search of habitation, food or other vital resources. Early types of humans inhabited the lands bordering the Mediterranean 435,000 years before the present, to judge from evidence for a hunters’ camp set up near modern Rome; others built a simple hut out of branches at Terra Amata near Nice, and created a hearth in the middle of their dwelling – their diet included rhinoceros and elephant meat as well as deer, rabbits and wild pigs. When early man first ventured out across the sea’s waters is uncertain. In 2010, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens announced the discovery in Crete of quartz hand-axes dated to before 130,000 BC, indicating that early types of humans found some means to cross the sea, though these people may have been swept there unintentionally on storm debris. Discoveries in caves on Gibraltar prove that 24,000 years ago another species of human looked across the sea towards the mountain of Jebel Musa, clearly visible on the facing shore of Africa: the first Neanderthal bones ever discovered, in 1848, were those of a woman who lived in a cave on the side of the Rock of Gibraltar. Since the original finds were not immediately identified as the remains of a different human species, it was only when, eight years later, similar bones were unearthed in the Neander Valley in Germany that this species gained a name: Neanderthal Man should carry the name Gibraltar Woman. The Gibraltar Neanderthals made use of the sea that lapped the shores of their territory, for their diet included shellfish and crustaceans, even turtles and seals, though at this time a flat plain separated their rock caves from the sea. But there is no evidence for a Neanderthal population in Morocco, which was colonized by homo sapiens sapiens, our own branch of humanity. The Straits apparently kept the two populations apart.

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Molecular Basis for Variable Expression of the MHC Class III Complement Genes, C4 and Slp, among Wild-Derived and Laboratory Mouse Strains

Genetics In Wild Mice ◽

10.1159/000424161 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 229-234

Author(s):

Masaru Nonaka

Keyword(s):

Molecular Basis ◽

Laboratory Mouse ◽

Mouse Strains ◽

Class Iii ◽

Variable Expression ◽

Mhc Class Iii

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Human Perfection and Contemporary Enhancement Technologies

Research Anthology on Emerging Technologies and Ethical Implications in Human Enhancement ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-8050-9.ch002 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 20-40

Author(s):

Jesús Parra-Sáez

Keyword(s):

New Technologies ◽

Homo Sapiens ◽

Human Species ◽

Biomedical Technologies ◽

Near Future ◽

Enhancement Technologies

Human perfection has been one of the main objectives of the human species since the appearance of Homo sapiens, but contemporary biomedical technologies represent a promise to achieve it in the near future. In view of the new possibilities offered by new technologies, a scientific-philosophical theoretical debate has emerged between those who are in favor of its use on humanity for non-therapeutic purposes (posthumanists) and those who reject it (bioconservatives). In this chapter, the so-called “enhancement technologies,” the problems derived from their use with the aim of radically altering human abilities, and some of the most recent practical cases that have transcended the theoretical debate about their legitimacy are analyzed.

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Immunity toTrichuris murisin the laboratory mouse

Journal of Helminthology ◽

10.1079/joh2002162 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 77 (2) ◽

pp. 95-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

K.J. Else ◽

M.L. deSchoolmeester

Keyword(s):

Laboratory Mouse ◽

Mouse Strains ◽

Chronic Infections ◽

Trichuris Muris ◽

Intestinal Nematode ◽

Unique Model ◽

Resistance To Infection ◽

Laboratory Models ◽

Strain Dependent

AbstractOf all the laboratory models of intestinal nematode infection,Trichuris murisin the mouse is arguably the most powerful. This is largely due to the fact that the ability to expel this parasite is strain dependent. Thus, most mouse strains readily expelT. muris. However certain mouse strains, and indeed some individuals within particular mouse strains, are unable to mount a protective immune response and harbour long term chronic infections. This unique model thus presents an opportunity to examine the immune events underlying both resistance to infection and persistent infection within the same host species, and in some cases, the same host strain.

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Ephemeral Spaces and Pneumatic Architecture: The Films of Nikolaus Geyrhalter

New German Critique ◽

10.1215/0094033x-7727455 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 125-155

Author(s):

Fatima Naqvi

Keyword(s):

Homo Sapiens ◽

Linear Perspective ◽

Human Species ◽

The West ◽

Technological Processes ◽

1960S And 1970S ◽

The 1960S

Abstract The Austrian director Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s films consistently thematize linear perspective as a mode of thought. His documentaries use one-point perspective to draw attention to a scientific habitus, with its studied neutrality and foregrounded objectivity. His “partitive images” home in on the fleeting relation of part to whole, revealing the difficulty of understanding large concepts such as the West or the human species through such supposedly objective images. This article also discusses the connection between Geyrhalter’s photographic mode and sophisticated technological processes. It looks at architecture as an organizing element in relation to Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher’s nomadic typologies and the pneumatic architecture of the 1960s and 1970s, with special attention to the films Unser täglich Brot (Our Daily Bread, 2005), Abendland (Occident, 2011), and Homo Sapiens (2016).

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