Overview of research on giant transgenic mice with emphasis on the brain and aging

Evolutionary ecologists apply the term "Adaptive suite" to naturally evolved species to convey that organisms represent complex integrated systems. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts is another way to say it. For example, evolved strategies of allocating resources among functions not only reflect selection for optimizing specific performance but also considerations of synergy or tradeoffs with other requirements. Growth and body size provide a central fulcrum linking holistic integration among most other features. A complex neuroendocrine program executes evolved allocation/life history strategies, with much of the decision making tracing to the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Transgenic, mutant and knockout animals express a strongly altered function that usually cannot be normalized by the evolved regulatory structure. The resulting complex and ramifying distortions in other features (which we term the transgenic correlation structure) reveals underlying allocative organization and allows investigation of associated regulatory structure. © 2008 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.