ABSTRACT
Analyses of human genomes have identified numerous genetic variants between populations and individuals called polymorphisms, which contribute to phenotypic variability and responses to environmental factors and therapies, as well as disease susceptibility. However, many experimental animal model systems rely extensively on inbred strains to study human disease. Although the fixed genetic composition of an inbred strain makes it useful for specific experimental manipulations, they are not ideal for understanding the variable responses between humans; these features are best examined in outbred experimental animal models in which genomic variation between individuals reflects the natural variation in the human population. An easily manipulated system that meets this genetic criterion is the frog, Xenopus. This chapter (1) summarizes the relationship between human genetic variation and disease, (2) reviews why inbred experimental models are considered inadequate for examining this relationship, and (3) explains how features of outbred Xenopus laboratory colonies provide a number of experimental advantages to elucidate the important relationship between genetic polymorphisms and disease.
