Cardiovascular Disease - There are numerous rat strains which act as experimental animals for the study of cardiovascular diseases displaying similar phenotypes as human during the progression of diseases. These diseases occur as spontaneous phenotypes and others can easily be induced chemically or even by change in environmental conditions including diet. As some strains are resistant to these changes they can act as a comparative strain.

Neurological Disease - A series of rat strains act as multipurpose neurological disease models. Some strains are susceptible to induced phenotypes whereas others are not hence providing a basic comparative background for further investigations.