science · 10 April 2000 · 25 years ago
In 2000, the dwarf mouse Yoda was born, which in 2004 was claimed as the then known world's oldest laboratory mouse produced without a low-calorie diet. A third smaller than an average mouse, Yoda lived with a larger female (Princess Leia) for protective body warmth. They lived in the lab of Dr. Richard A. Miller, professor of pathology, an expert on the genetics and cell biology of aging at the Univ. of Michigan Medical School Geriatrics Center. Yoda's strain was genetically modified, bred from wild mice captured in Idaho, that live longer, stay smaller and age more slowly than ordinary mice. While other scientists studying extremely low-calorie diets produced older long-lived mice, Miller's research used a genetic approach. Mutations in pituitary and thyroid glands reduced insulin production. Average mouse lifespan is about 2 yrs. Yoda died 22 Apr 2004, aged 4 yrs 12 days (said to be 136 human-yrs).
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