Nomenclature

Abstract

The value of inbred strains in research depends largely on universal use of a standardised nomenclature system. Before such a system was introduced for mice in 1952, a single strain might be known under several different names, so that it was difficult to build up background information on the characteristics of the strain. Thus, a strain was passed from one investigator to another as, say, a high-leukaemia strain, and in the process the name was often changed, leading eventually to extreme confusion. It is regrettable that in species other than the mouse, where no committee on standardised nomenclature has jurisdiction, similar confusion still occurs.