In the study they used an immunodeficient mouse known as the Nod/Scid mouse which was first developed in the mid 1990′s. Because the Nod/Scid lacks its own immune system cells from the human immune system can be introduced into the mouse and studied, and recently an almost intact human immune system has been reconstituted in the mouse which may be very useful for studying HIV http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0050013.

In the study by Dreier and colleagues human immune cells and cancer cells were mixed together and injected into the NOD/SCID mice. This was important since it allowed them to study a BiTE antibody that was specific for two human targets. Several days later the mice were injected with either Blinatumomab or a control and the effect on tumour growth and survival was observed. The purpose of this was to assess whether the injected BiTE antibody could travel through the body and target a sufficient number of T-cells to the cancer cells to prevent tumour growth. The study showed that Blinatumomab, but not the control, could indeed stimulate T-cells to attack the cancer cells and block tumour growth.