Sir

The number of genetically engineered mouse mutants is rising substantially, as highlighted in your Editorial 'Mutant mice galore' (Nature 446, 469–470; doi:10.1038/446469b 2007). However, there is insufficient manpower and expertise in comparative pathology to characterize and validate these model animals effectively. We ask the scientific community to recognize this crisis and help address the issue before it becomes catastrophic.

The International Mouse Knockout Consortium is creating a critical, but unmet, need for expert comparative pathologists knowledgeable in mouse biology and human disease. Effective mouse pathology requires an understanding of mouse biology and a knowledge base that is not possessed by most investigators or pathologists. Funding agencies recognize the problem, but are not sufficiently addressing it, and the funding mechanisms of the US National Institutes of Health do not allow for training in pathology. Where are the mouse pathologists of the future, and who is going to train them?

Scientists involved in creating the huge mutant-mouse population need to recognize this need and help find a solution. The governments funding the mice and their databases are failing to create the necessary human resources. One potential solution could be a partnership among academic institutions, industry and government to develop and support an 'electronic consortium' of existing mouse pathology specialists. Their collective wisdom could be shared with interested young pathologists, using distance-learning tools.