A remarkable rodent: Regeneration and reproduction in spiny mice (Acomys)

Although certain organisms are chosen and employed to better understand a specific problem in biology (so-called model organisms), sometimes an animal model reveals its' biomedical importance by happenstance. In many ways, the advent of spiny mice (Acomys) as an emerging model to study regeneration and menstruation stands as a case study in scientific pseudoserendipity (Diaz de Chumaceiro, 1995). As we recount in this chapter, the discovery of these phenotypes, while not entirely accidental, was nonetheless unexpected. In addition to recounting how we uncovered these unusual mammalian traits, we outline recent work by our groups and others that has begun to outline the cellular and genetic mechanisms underlying bonafide mammalian tissue regeneration and a human-like mode of reproduction in spiny mice.