Comparative Medicine

[...]the seemingly separate fields of veterinary and human medicine are more similar than unique, so focusing on how basic biological studies can inform both medical fields to ensure human and animal health. Techniques ranging from blood transfusion to kidney dialysis to hip and heart valve replacement surgeries to deep brain stimulation were developed initially in animal models and are now used in both hospitals and veterinary clinics around the world. In this issue of the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine ( YJBM ), we aim to give our readers a better understanding of laboratory animal models and their critical role in biomedical research, as well as the role of natural models of human diseases in non-laboratory animals. Laboratory mice are a variety of inbred strains of mice that are used to model human diseases in a reductionistic setting where there is little inter-individual genetic variation and all environmental conditions can be controlled.