On Feb. 21, 2012, as part of a national collaboration, Oregon Health & Science University researchers were studying specially bred mice that are more like humans than ever before when it comes to genetic variation. Through these mice, the researchers hoped to better understand and treat an infectious disease that plagues us year in and year out: the flu.

The scientists aimed to determine why some people suffer serious illness and even death when infected with influenza while others suffer only mild to moderate symptoms. The research was published in a special joint issue of the journals Genetics and G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, both publications of the Genetics Society of America.