Editing Laboratory mouse (section)

===BALB/c===
{{main|BALB/c}}
[[Image:Lightmatter lab mice.jpg|right|thumb|BALB/c laboratory mice]]
BALB/c is an [[albino]] laboratory-bred strain from which a number of common substrains are derived. With over 200 generations bred since 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 | access-date=2007-04-16 }}</ref>

BALB/c 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>{{Cite web|title=BALB/cByJ |work=Jax Mice Data Sheet |publisher=Jackson Laboratory |url=http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/001026_2.html |access-date=2007-04-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116054205/http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/001026_2.html |archive-date=November 16, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title=BALB/cJ | work=Jax Mice Data Sheet | publisher=Jackson Laboratory | url=http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/000651.html | access-date=2007-04-16 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070411205957/http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/000651.html| archive-date= 11 April 2007}}</ref>

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 | vauthors = Southwick CH, Clark LH | year = 1966 | title = Aggressive behaviour and exploratory activity in fourteen mouse strains | journal = Am. Zool. | volume = 6 | page = 559 }}</ref>  Most BALB/c mice substrains have a long reproductive life-span.<ref name="Festing"/>

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 book | vauthors = Hilgers J, van Nie R, Iványi D, Hilkens J, Michalides R, de Moes J, Poort-Keesom R, Kroezen V, von Deimling O, Kominami R | chapter = Genetic Differences in BALB/C Sublines | series = Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology | display-authors = 6 | title = The BALB/C Mouse | volume = 122 | pages = 19–30 | year = 1985 | pmid = 2994956 | doi = 10.1007/978-3-642-70740-7_3 | isbn = 978-3-642-70742-1 }}</ref> The BALB/cWt is unusual in that 3% of progeny display true [[hermaphroditism]].<ref name="cWt">{{cite journal | vauthors = Eicher EM, Beamer WG, Washburn LL, Whitten WK | title = A cytogenetic investigation of inherited true hermaphroditism in BALB/cWt mice | journal = Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics | volume = 28 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 104–15 | year = 1980 | pmid = 7470243 | doi = 10.1159/000131518 }}</ref>