{{Short description|Laboratory-bred strain of the house mouse}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} frameless|right frameless|right '''BALB/c''' is an albino, laboratory-bred strain of the house mouse from which a number of common substrains are derived. Now over 200 generations from New York in 1920, BALB/c mice are distributed globally, and are among the most widely used inbred strains used in animal experimentation.<ref name="Festing">{{Cite web| title=BALB/c | work=Inbred Strains of Mice | publisher=Jackson Laboratory | url=http://www.informatics.jax.org/external/festing/mouse/docs/BALB.shtml | accessdate=2007-04-16 }}</ref>
== History == {{animal testing}} The founding animals of the strain were obtained by Halsey J. Bagg of Memorial Hospital, New York, from a mouse dealer in Ohio in 1913. The name BALB is a portmanteau of "Bagg" and "Albino." From 1920, the progeny of the original colony were systematically inbred, sibling to sibling, for 26 generations over 15 years. During this time, the colony passed through the care of a number of scientists, including C.C. Little and E.C. MacDowell at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and H.J. Muller at the University of Texas at Austin.<ref name="Potter">Potter M. History of the BALB/c family, pp. 1–5. In: The BALB/c Mouse: Genetics and Immunology, ''Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology'', Vol. 122. Springer-Verlag, NY. 1985.</ref> By 1935 the animals were in the possession of Muller's student, George Davis Snell, who moved them to The Jackson Laboratory. This stock provided the basis of all the BALB/c substrains that are now in use around the world.<ref name="Jax Lit">{{Cite web|title=A Brief History of the Two Substrains of BALB/c, BALB/cJ, and BALB/cByJ |work=Jax Mice Literature |publisher=Jackson Laboratory |url=http://jaxmice.jax.org/jaxnotes/archive/443a.html |accessdate=2010-09-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619092710/http://jaxmice.jax.org/jaxnotes/archive/443a.html |archivedate=19 June 2011 }}</ref>
Snell provided some animals from this stock to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to maintain. In 1961 D. W. Bailey used some of these to generate a substrain at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1974, now 136 generations from the original breeding pair, these animals were returned to The Jackson Laboratory and were named '''''BALB/cByJ'''''.<ref name="Jax Lit"/> On 16 November 2005, The Jackson Laboratory reported this substrain had reached its 235th generation.<ref name="/cByJ data">{{Cite web| title=BALB/cByJ | work=Jax Mice Data Sheet | publisher=Jackson Laboratory | url=http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/001026_2.html | accessdate=2007-04-16 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20061116054205/http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/001026_2.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 16 November 2006}}</ref>
Snell also provided a colleague, J. Paul Scott, with some BALB/c breeding stock in 1938 or 1939.<ref name="Potter"/> When a fire destroyed the main Jackson Laboratory buildings in 1947,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Jackson Laboratory Milestones: 1940 – 1949 |work=The Jackson Laboratory Timeline |publisher=Jackson Laboratory |url=http://www.jax.org/about/timeline/1940.html |accessdate=2007-04-16 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915090022/http://www.jax.org/about/timeline/1940.html |archivedate=15 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> all of Snell's original breeding stock perished, but Scott's mice were in a different building and survived. Scott donated stock back, at generation 41, to repopulate the colony. The progeny of these are now termed '''''BALB/cJ''''' and, as of 14 December 2006, were 221 generations from the founding stock.<ref name="/cJ data">{{Cite web| title=BALB/cJ | work=Jax Mice Data Sheet | publisher=Jackson Laboratory | url=http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/000651.html | accessdate=2007-04-16 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070411205957/http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/000651.html| archivedate= 11 April 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> Other less popular substrains, such as ''BALB/cWt'', are maintained at the Jackson Laboratory, while the ''BALB/cN'' substrain is maintained by the NIH.<ref name="Jax Lit"/>
==Characteristics== [[File:Balb-C nude hiired e. Balb-C immuunpuudulikud hiired.jpg|thumb|left|BALB/c nude mice from University of Tartu, which lack a thymus and are unable to produce T-cells and are therefore immunodeficient]] BALB/c mice are useful for research into both cancer and immunology. According to Michael Festing's ''Inbred Strains of Mice'',<ref name="Festing"/> BALB/c substrains are "particularly well known for the production of plasmacytomas on injection with mineral oil," an important process for the production of monoclonal antibodies. They are also reported as having a "low mammary tumour incidence",<ref name="Festing"/> but do develop other types of cancers in later life, most commonly reticular neoplasms, lung tumours, and renal tumours.<ref name="/cByJ data"/><ref name="/cJ data"/> Most substrains have a "long reproductive life-span",<ref name="Festing"/> are noted for displaying high levels of anxiety and for being relatively resistant to diet-induced atherosclerosis, making them a useful model for cardiovascular research.<ref name="/cByJ data"/><ref name="/cJ data"/>
There are noted differences between different BALB/c substrains, though these are thought to be due to mutation rather than genetic contamination.<ref name="strains">{{cite journal | last1 = Hilgers | first1 = J. | last2 = van Nie | first2 = R. | last3 = Ivanyi | first3 = D. | last4 = Hilkens | first4 = J. | last5 = Michalides | first5 = R. | last6 = de Moes | first6 = J. | last7 = Poort-Keesom | first7 = R. | last8 = Kroezen | first8 = V. | last9 = von Deimling | first9 = O. | last10 = Kominami | first10 = R. | last11 = Holmes | first11 = R. | year = 1985 | title = Genetic differences in BALB/c sublines | url = | journal = Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. | volume = 122 | issue = | pages = 19–30 }}</ref> For example, male BALB/c mice are aggressive and will fight other males if housed together. However, the ''BALB/Lac'' substrain is much more docile.<ref name="aggressive">{{cite journal | last1 = Southwick | first1 = C. H. | last2 = Clark | first2 = L. H. | year = 1966 | title = Aggressive behaviour and exploratory activity in fourteen mouse strains | url = | journal = Am. Zool. | volume = 6 | issue = | page = 559 }}</ref> The ''BALB/cWt'' is also unusual in that 3% of progeny display true hermaphroditism.<ref name="cWt">{{cite journal | last1 = Eicher | first1 = E. M. | last2 = Beamer | first2 = W. G. | last3 = Washburn | first3 = L. L. | last4 = Whitten | first4 = W. K. | year = 1980 | title = A cytogenetic investigation of inherited true hermaphroditism in BALB/cWt mice | url = | journal = Cytogenet. Cell Genet. | volume = 28 | issue = | pages = 104–115 | doi = 10.1159/000131518 | pmid = 7470243 }}</ref>
The BALB/cJ<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jax.org/strain/000651 |title=BALB/cJ |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=jax.org}}</ref> mice have a medium lifespan of about 17 months for males and 20 months for females,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://insights.envigo.com/hubfs/resources/data-sheets/envigo-49-balbc-a4_screen.pdf |title=BALB/c Bagg's Albino |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=insights.envigo.com}}</ref> and the body weight at 9 weeks after birth is about {{Convert|27|g|abbr=on}} for males and {{Convert|21|g|abbr=on}} for females.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jackson.jax.org/rs/444-BUH-304/images/physiological_data_000651.pdf |title=Physiological Data Summary – BALB/cJ |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=jackson.jax.org}}</ref>
The BALB/c mouse is used as a preclinical model to study age-related bone loss and osteoporosis . With aging, these mice show a progressive decrease in bone mineral density and deterioration of bone microarchitecteur . these changes lead to reduced bone strength, making BALB/c mice a useful model for investigating bone aging and osteoporosis mechanisms. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Dominique |date=2020 |title=The BALB/c mouse as a preclinical model of the age-related deterioration in the lumbar vertebra |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32480022/}}</ref>
== See also == * Animal model * Animal testing on rodents * C57BL/6
== References == {{Commons category|Inbred BALB C mice}} {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://mice.jax.org/ Jackson Laboratory's mouse strains] * [https://www.taconic.com/mouse-model/balbc Taconic Biosciences' BALB/c model] * [https://www.horizondiscovery.com/balb-c-inbred-mouse-tgmbw Balb/c mice – Horizon Discovery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321192752/https://www.horizondiscovery.com/balb-c-inbred-mouse-tgmbw |date=21 March 2018 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balb C}} Category:Animals bred for albinism on a large scale Category:Laboratory mouse strains