Satins
Satin is the name given to a coat type that has a metallic shine to it. Darker colours are harder to determine the satin effect on than lighter colours, and therefore lighter colours are more usually shown in the satin section. Caused by a difference in hair structure - satin hairs are hollow - this mutation was introduced to the UK mouse fancy in the 1970s by Tony and Gill Cooke (standardised 1975). I spoke to Tony Cooke to find out more about the history of this beautiful mutation.
How did you first come across satin mice – were you looking for new mutations or was it coincidence?
We were looking to recreate variegated, which only existed in the history of the mouse fancy but not in the current day. We managed to get permission to visit the Medical Research Council facility at Harwell in Berkshire. We talked with staff there and they were most helpful because, as they explained, the mouse fancy had supplied early genetics research facilities with their basic livestock 'tools' (i.e. established strains of fancy mice).
When we had finished our discussions they showed us round their labs and some of the 'interesting' strains that they had - mice which were guaranteed to develop various cancers quickly (very useful for testing possible cures). They showed us a strain of mice where they were ALL whisker-biters - to the extent that every mouse had a patch of naked skin from the nose up to and round the ears - head on they looked like they had a pink heart-shaped face!
Then they said: "Is there anything else that you might like?". So I asked if there was anything that they thought might be of interest to the mouse fancy because it was attractive. And then they showed me the satins.
We took a buck home with us and put him with two HUGE PEW does that we had just got from Sonya Southworth (Manchester-ish I seem to recall) and kept them in our spare bedroom. Nothing whatsoever happened!!! I rang MRC and they sent another by rail (we could send livestock by rail in those days). The newcomer NEVER bred but he seemed to trigger the original buck and the rest is history.
Did the lab have any other mutations that you didn't acquire that might have been interesting to the fancy and what were they?
One mutation which we did see there were Abyssinians. Later, after the satins were established and my book was published, we obtained some and although they initially had only two rosettes we eventually got them up to ten rosettes - four rump, four middle and two cheeks. But the coat in mice is not harsh enough and by the time they were adults the rosettes all went flat and the mice just looked scruffy.
With the original mouse came several mutations that were not already in the mouse fancy. I seem to recall his full make-up (at locii that we didn't have any variants for) was sasabebepepe. That's double doses of the recessive genes 'satin', 'beige' and 'pearl'. That meant that early satins did not conform with standardised colours, apart from PEW obviously.
There were two particularly striking early 'colours', both very like metallic 'silver' paper - silver and gold - but they bit the dust when the NMC Committee decided that satins should only be recognised in 'standard' colours. We have to live with that now but those two colours in satin would/should have been the vehicle for pulling in many, many new fanciers. They were stunning.
How were satin mice produced and what were they being used to study?
I really can't offer any info there as we weren't told. I think a lot of work was simply mapping the mouse genome which was of course the start of mapping human genes. They may have been a result of exposure to radiation as Harwell was also the location of atomic weapons research but that is my own guess.
What was the original mouse/mice like? (and do any photos exist?)
Horrible! Tiny matchstick tail, small ears but shiny, shiny, shiny! I'm afraid this was before the days of digital cameras. In those days it was film to a lab and all in black and white unless you were rich! We didn't think to take any photos. It is possible that Eric Jukes has some early ones? He did most of the photos in my book.
How did you propagate the gene (i.e. breeding program, did you cross to any particular variety)?
As mentioned above - initially a couple of PEW does. First generation were all carriers of course as it is a recessive gene. But mice breed quickly so it didn't take long before we were getting satins in the next generation.
What did other fanciers think of the first satins they saw?
There was excitement. Jack Cunningham (a northerner) wrote our name on a blank cheque and told us to put ANY figure we liked as payment for the first! We said that we would place the first available stock in gift auction trios somewhere up north.
All we could spare initially were males and that sparked a rumour that it was a sex-linked gene and you couldn't get does in satin - not true of course. Ted Lee of Bristol won the first auction trio and I can't remember who got the second lot but it was certainly Midlands or north.
What can you tell me about the black and pink eyed golds that were among the early satins?
Only that they were stunning - I hope Eric has a photo!
Did you ever think that satins would become so popular that they would merit their own section, and so quickly after their introduction?
We thought/hoped that they would become an accepted breed because it was obvious they they were attractive but we never expected their own section and so soon. They were so popular that the NMC had to act to protect the rest of the AOVs who were suffering as a consequence.
Was satin the name given by the fancy or was it already labelled satin by the laboratory? If the name was given by fanciers, who proposed the name?
It was already the name of the gene inside the genetic research industry and there didn't seem any point in offering any alternative. Later we went to Cambridge University and met Dr Margaret Wallace who ran the genetic research lab there and wrote a book on mice and actually supplied her with satins!
How did you first come across satin mice – were you looking for new mutations or was it coincidence?
We were looking to recreate variegated, which only existed in the history of the mouse fancy but not in the current day. We managed to get permission to visit the Medical Research Council facility at Harwell in Berkshire. We talked with staff there and they were most helpful because, as they explained, the mouse fancy had supplied early genetics research facilities with their basic livestock 'tools' (i.e. established strains of fancy mice).
When we had finished our discussions they showed us round their labs and some of the 'interesting' strains that they had - mice which were guaranteed to develop various cancers quickly (very useful for testing possible cures). They showed us a strain of mice where they were ALL whisker-biters - to the extent that every mouse had a patch of naked skin from the nose up to and round the ears - head on they looked like they had a pink heart-shaped face!
Then they said: "Is there anything else that you might like?". So I asked if there was anything that they thought might be of interest to the mouse fancy because it was attractive. And then they showed me the satins.
We took a buck home with us and put him with two HUGE PEW does that we had just got from Sonya Southworth (Manchester-ish I seem to recall) and kept them in our spare bedroom. Nothing whatsoever happened!!! I rang MRC and they sent another by rail (we could send livestock by rail in those days). The newcomer NEVER bred but he seemed to trigger the original buck and the rest is history.
Did the lab have any other mutations that you didn't acquire that might have been interesting to the fancy and what were they?
One mutation which we did see there were Abyssinians. Later, after the satins were established and my book was published, we obtained some and although they initially had only two rosettes we eventually got them up to ten rosettes - four rump, four middle and two cheeks. But the coat in mice is not harsh enough and by the time they were adults the rosettes all went flat and the mice just looked scruffy.
With the original mouse came several mutations that were not already in the mouse fancy. I seem to recall his full make-up (at locii that we didn't have any variants for) was sasabebepepe. That's double doses of the recessive genes 'satin', 'beige' and 'pearl'. That meant that early satins did not conform with standardised colours, apart from PEW obviously.
There were two particularly striking early 'colours', both very like metallic 'silver' paper - silver and gold - but they bit the dust when the NMC Committee decided that satins should only be recognised in 'standard' colours. We have to live with that now but those two colours in satin would/should have been the vehicle for pulling in many, many new fanciers. They were stunning.
How were satin mice produced and what were they being used to study?
I really can't offer any info there as we weren't told. I think a lot of work was simply mapping the mouse genome which was of course the start of mapping human genes. They may have been a result of exposure to radiation as Harwell was also the location of atomic weapons research but that is my own guess.
What was the original mouse/mice like? (and do any photos exist?)
Horrible! Tiny matchstick tail, small ears but shiny, shiny, shiny! I'm afraid this was before the days of digital cameras. In those days it was film to a lab and all in black and white unless you were rich! We didn't think to take any photos. It is possible that Eric Jukes has some early ones? He did most of the photos in my book.
How did you propagate the gene (i.e. breeding program, did you cross to any particular variety)?
As mentioned above - initially a couple of PEW does. First generation were all carriers of course as it is a recessive gene. But mice breed quickly so it didn't take long before we were getting satins in the next generation.
What did other fanciers think of the first satins they saw?
There was excitement. Jack Cunningham (a northerner) wrote our name on a blank cheque and told us to put ANY figure we liked as payment for the first! We said that we would place the first available stock in gift auction trios somewhere up north.
All we could spare initially were males and that sparked a rumour that it was a sex-linked gene and you couldn't get does in satin - not true of course. Ted Lee of Bristol won the first auction trio and I can't remember who got the second lot but it was certainly Midlands or north.
What can you tell me about the black and pink eyed golds that were among the early satins?
Only that they were stunning - I hope Eric has a photo!
Did you ever think that satins would become so popular that they would merit their own section, and so quickly after their introduction?
We thought/hoped that they would become an accepted breed because it was obvious they they were attractive but we never expected their own section and so soon. They were so popular that the NMC had to act to protect the rest of the AOVs who were suffering as a consequence.
Was satin the name given by the fancy or was it already labelled satin by the laboratory? If the name was given by fanciers, who proposed the name?
It was already the name of the gene inside the genetic research industry and there didn't seem any point in offering any alternative. Later we went to Cambridge University and met Dr Margaret Wallace who ran the genetic research lab there and wrote a book on mice and actually supplied her with satins!