More than 1,000 genetic variants and inbred strains of mice have been developed and utilized in numerous biomedical experiments. The results of those studies on experimental infections of various pathogens in the inbred strains of mice indicate that genetic factors play a decisive role in resistance in mice. This paper reviews the present situation of such studies on genetic control of the resistance to infection in mice. The involvement of single dominant or recessive genes relates to the infections caused by more than 20 kinds of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, rickettsia and parasites. These single genes act independently in infections of relevant pathogens. A majority of those genes have been mapped on mice chromosomes. One of the important findings indicates that the same one gene plays an important role in providing resistance to phylogenetically different pathogens, i.e. Salmonella typhimurium, Mycobacterium bovis (BCG) and Leishmania donovani. A recent study on a mouse resistance to Japanese encephalitis virus shows that the resistance is controlled by one gene through its activation of cell-mediated immunity in the infected hosts.