What would happen if every laboratory mouse was released into the wild?

[Techno-Druid]

This is a less realistic concept, but imho would be a pretty interesting food for thought. If every single laboratory mouse and rat were released, what would be the effect with any brown rat and house mouse population? Think about how humans as a species pocketed throughout the Earth have developed mutations some physically obvious. Think about how many mutations would spread throughout mice and rats.

[TrumpIsPresident]

All the brown rats would accuse the white rat of living a privileged life due to his white-rat privilege.

HAHaha ...sorry I had to.

But seriously, what sort of lab did this rate escape from?

Wouldn't want these guys to show up.

[Ripster42]

They'd die. They're bred white, it's a significant fitness disadvantage.

[dejec1989]

Whole lota predators about to get real fat...

[shadowmouse]

I suspect it would lead to a large number of well fed feral cats.

Edit: I was slow on the draw.

[Deleted]

Aren't a % of laboratory rats sterile?

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

The Secret of Nimh would be more than just a movie.

[Techno-Druid]

They'd die. They're bred white, it's a significant fitness disadvantage.

I'm aware, but mice breed fast and if they were to encounter wild mice and interbreed with them, some of those genes could spread (not the whiteness, but the modified genes from scientists)

[Deleted]

I'm aware, but mice breed fast and if they were to encounter wild mice and interbreed with them, some of those genes could spread (not the whiteness, but the modified genes from scientists)

Most would die though as would their offspring. It would likely only affect 1%

[primalmatter]

Not really much... animals carry disease naturally... I guess there could be a small outbreak of diseases we destroyed but we could simply get rid of them again though quarantine as a worst case scenario. Though that is unlikely to happen it wouldn't really do anything most likely.

[Spectral]

They'd die. They're bred white, it's a significant fitness disadvantage.

The majority of lab mice are not white - the most common strain is the C57BL/6 by a wide margin. They're black.

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I'm aware, but mice breed fast and if they were to encounter wild mice and interbreed with them, some of those genes could spread (not the whiteness, but the modified genes from scientists)

There aren't many research mice with mutations that would be interesting in nature. Most of them are just loss of function mutations. If you take a TLR4 KO mouse, you're just going to have a mouse with a somewhat weaker immune system; breed it with a wild-type mouse and all you get is a restoration of function.

[Ripster42]

The majority of lab mice are not white - the most common strain is the C57BL/6 by a wide margin. They're black.

I've never used anything but balbc (and that was 10 years ago). Excuse my ignorance!

[Rotted]

They'd die

not mainly because of colour like someone stated more so because they've been used to feeding in an artifical enviroment, they'd be lost on their own.

[Rhine101]

They will die.

Between being white in a forest environment and not knowing how to avoid predators and find food... It's simple really.

It's like asking what would happen if you tasked Paris Hilton with surviving in a jungle. Same thing.

[Deleted]

Allot of research would be wasted.

[Palemaster]

Then in a few millions years the dominant rodent species will have a human ear on its back (because the mouse ladies dig the ear back, yay natural selection).

[Deleted]

zombie apocalypse

[Triggered Fridgekin]

The Chinese will declare that they're aphrodisiacs and hunt in to extinction.

[Deleted]

Aren't a % of laboratory rats sterile?

Some are yes, however that is a minority afaik, a lot of rats are specifically bred to enhance certain traits, which means they cant be sterilized

[Theinquisition]

Theyd form in pairs and try to take over the world.