Strains inbred from wild-captured mice provide unique genomes that are distinct from most classical inbred laboratory strains of mice and thereby provide a more diverse array of alleles, strain characteristics and disease susceptibility. Phylogenetic differences have also proven valuable in studies of genomic organization and evolution. The SMSR maintains and distributes a significant collection of these unique strains, which can be more challenging to maintain than classical inbred laboratory strains.
