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Happy Mice
01 November 2016

Happy Mice

These lucky lab mice are enjoying an ‘enriched environment’ – a cage with plenty of stimulating toys to play with, tunnels to wriggle through and even a running wheel. Intriguingly, researchers have discovered that these improved living conditions have a measurable impact on certain types of cells in the animals’ immune systems, compared to mice housed in sawdust-lined cages without the fun and games. Just two weeks living in the enriched environment seems to boost the activity of special T cells, making them more effective at fighting off infections. These cells had also switched on over 50 genes involved in healing and infection control. Many people suffer from autoimmune disorders such as allergies, asthma and arthritis, and although there’s much more work to be done to prove a link between human immune function and our living spaces, maybe one day we’ll see doctors prescribing a home makeover alongside more conventional treatments.

Written by Kat Arney

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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