Trivia

The first U.S. patent for an animal was issued to geneticists at Harvard University in 1988. The animal--called an oncomouse--is a genetically engineered mouse that is highly susceptible to breast cancer.

The Oncomouse was developed in the 1980s at Harvard Medical School, through DuPont funding. It was patented by Harvard researcher Dr. Philip Leder, and licensed exclusively to DuPont.

'Onco' is derived from oncogene, a name geneticists give to a damaged or mutated gene. Leder says that, in cases where such genes are responsible for regulating cell growth, cancer can be the result. For the purposes of study, Leder and his associates have given oncogenes to mice to help them develop cancer. When oncogene meets mouse, the result is the Oncomouse.

When two such mice breed, the cancer-causing genes are passed to the offspring, which are thus predisposed to developing cancer at an accelerated rate. Scientists study the interplay between oncogenes in the mice as a model for studying cancer in humans.