Abbie Lathrop

Abbie E. C. Lathrop (1868 – 1918) was a rodent fancier and commercial breeder who bred fancy mice and inbred strains for animal models, particularly for research on development and hereditary properties of cancer.

After her poultry business failed, she started breeding rats and mice for hobbyists and pet owners.

Lathrop began selling rodents to scientific researchers, including Harvard University's Bussey Institute.

[2] The United States government purchased her guinea pigs to test for toxic gas in the trenches of World War I.

[3] While Little patronizingly called Lathrop a "talented pet-shop owner," his own DBA strain was probably derived from her partially inbred silver fawn mice.

[7] Karin Knorr Cetina wrote in 2009 that at least five of the primary strains of laboratory mice in use may derive from a single female from Lathrop.