Nude mouse

A nude mouse is a laboratory mouse from a strain with a genetic mutation that causes a deteriorated or absent thymus, resulting in an inhibited immune system due to a greatly reduced number of T cells.

The phenotype (main outward appearance) of the mouse is a lack of body hair, which gives it the "nude" nickname.

The nude mouse is valuable to research because it can receive many different types of tissue and tumor grafts, as it mounts no rejection response.

These xenografts are commonly used in research to test new methods of imaging and treating tumors.

Nude mice were first discovered in 1962 by Dr. Norman R. Grist at Ruchill Hospital's Brownlee virology laboratory in Glasgow.