Table 1.

Characteristics of piglets as models for fetal/neonatal studies.

1. Large litters of precosial offspring suitable for rearing independently from their mothers.

2. Offspring can be reared on bovine colostrum/milk and milk-based formulae used for infants.

3. Similar nutritional requirements, digestive system, gut flora and respiratory system to that in humans.

4. Similar or identical contagion to those that infect humans.

5. Defense proteins, peptides, cytokines and chemokines homologous to those in other mammals.

6. Light chain repertoire and κ:λ expression similar to humans disparate from that of rodents or other hoofed mammals.

7. TCRVβ and TCRVγδ repertoires and loci arrangements similar to humans.

8. Long gestation offering a large window for studying fetal development.

9. Amenable to in utero inoculations and certain types of fetal manipulations.

10. User-friendly VH system allowing for quantitation of repertoire diversification.