The tiny mouse lemur could make for a mighty model organism

3 months ago 1

NEWS AND VIEWS
30 July 2025

A cellular atlas for a small, fast-reproducing primate could set the stage for scientists to use it as a model organism that has more human relevance than rodents.

J. Gray Camp
1. J. Gray Camp is at the Institute of Human Biology (IHB), Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Roche Innovation Center Basel, Basel 4051, Switzerland and Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Advances in genomic technologies have paved the way for new model organisms to enhance scientists’ understanding of primate biology. In a pair of pioneering studies published in Nature, the Tabula Microcebus Consortium et al.¹, and Ezran et al.² present an impressive molecular cell atlas of the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus; Fig. 1), an emerging model organism that offers insights into primate genetics, physiology and disease.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01584-0

References

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