Inbred mouse strains provide genetic diversity comparable to that of the human population. Like humans, mice have a wide range of diabetes-related phenotypes. The inbred mouse strains differ in the response of their critical physiological functions, such as insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion, ␤-cell proliferation and survival, and fuel partitioning, to diet and obesity. Most of the critical genes underlying these differences have not been identified, although many loci have been mapped. The

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... dramatic improvements in genomic and bioinformatics resources are accelerating the pace of gene discovery. This review describes how mouse genetics can be used to discover diabetes-related genes, summarizes how the mouse strains differ in their diabetes-related phenotypes, and describes several examples of how loci identified in the mouse may directly relate to human diabetes. (Endocrine Reviews 28: 48 -83, 2007)