Except for maybe the last paragraph, this is not new information to basically anyone performing studies. The problem is we don't have any ethically and scientifically better alternatives.
We are getting there. In-vitro methods, often involving cell cultures, are gaining traction. In-silico, also.
Robotic automation and synthetic biology help with that a lot. Machine learning can help make sense of more limited data, for example predicting toxicity and other parameters for drugs so that you can better choose what to forward to Human trials.
While mice are not humans (who would have known), we could do a lot better by moving away from using inbred mice. More positively we could make a lot more use of domestic pets in research. If we started to treat more pets as research subjects we could really do a lot of great research.
The thing with inbred mice is that the results are more consistent (or at least more so) than with regular mice. This allows you to use less mice and get statistical significance. If you do not use those than the sample size you'd need drastically increases. Animal research is plenty expensive as it is.
Good luck getting people to allow their pets being used for research!
People are really keen to allow their pets to be used in research as long as they understand the importance. Pets are a massive resource that is just being wasted.
My cats are certainly not being wasted. Who else would step across my keyboard when I’m typing?
I'm not arguing for pigs over mice but I ask since transgenic pigs are often said to be future potentially viable transplant sources would not trials in pigs be a better model?
I'm not arguing for pigs over mice but I ask since transgenic pigs are often said to be future potentially viable transplant sources would not trials in pigs be a better model? (Ethical nightmares)
Cost. Growing pigs is expensive, it takes more space, more food, and more time.
I'm not arguing for pigs over mice but I ask since transgenic pigs are often said to be future potentially viable transplant sources would not trials in pigs be a better model? (Ethical nightmares)
Pigs are used in research, but they are expensive. Maybe 1000 times the cost of mice? The techniques described in the article (bad choice of temperature and environment) are cutting corners, but testing on pigs instead would completely change the amount of testing you can do.
While mice are not humans (who would have known), we could do a lot better by moving away from using inbred mice. More positively we could make a lot more use of domestic pets in research. If we started to treat more pets as research subjects we could really do a lot of great research.
This works up until the part of the research where you cut the pet open to see what the effects were.
What about drugs that work in humans, but not in mice? Could you ever get them into trials without animal data?
This is more worrying, how many medications did we miss because they don't work in mice ? Do we humans only get medications that work in both humans and at least one other species ?
What about drugs that work in humans, but not in mice? Could you ever get them into trials without animal data?
This is more worrying, how many medications did we miss because they don't work in mice ? Do we humans only get medications that work in both humans and at least one other species ?
The same number we missed because, as it turns out, killing people with unknown medications is a bad thing.
Except for maybe the last paragraph, this is not new information to basically anyone performing studies. The problem is we don't have any ethically and scientifically better alternatives.
We are getting there. In-vitro methods, often involving cell cultures, are gaining traction. In-silico, also. Robotic automation and synthetic biology help with that a lot. Machine learning can help make sense of more limited data, for example predicting toxicity and other parameters for drugs so that you can better choose what to forward to Human trials.
In vitro studies have been done for ages, but are often a worse model than closely related organisms. For instance, there are various human cancer cell lines and while these are routinely used to study various aspects of biology (cancer being just one of them), they are generally a poor model for drug trials. The current research trend goes towards developing organoids — cell cultures with a distinct 3D organisation and biological makeup that mimics actual organs — that more closely resemble actual human tissues. It’s still early days though.