Case Western Reserve University researchers have bred a line of “mighty mice” (PEPCK-Cmus mice) that have the capability of running five to six kilometers at a speed of 20 meters per minute on a treadmill for up to six hours before stopping.

According to Richard W. Hanson, Professor of Biochemistry at Case Western Reserve, the key to this remarkable alteration in energy metabolism is the over-expression of the gene for the enzyme phosphoenolypyruvate carboxykinases (PEPCK-C).