I've written on the growing importance of genetically modified (GM) mice in cancer research before, but it's been a little while since I revisited the subject. So when I saw this BBC story yesterday on how scientists at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute has used an elegant study in GM mice to identify a gene … Continue reading What GM mice can tell us about pancreatic cancer (and medical charities)
The Golden Goose Awards
Politicians sometimes deride research based on the what they perceive as being "silly" titles of federal funded grants. If they spot a title that deals with "games", for example, they may assume it deals with some sort of amusement of little value to society, instead of a deep, powerful branch of mathematics that describes the behavior of … Continue reading The Golden Goose Awards
Restoring vision in night blindness: Mice point way to stem cell therapy
Impaired vision and blindness are leading causes of disability, affecting over 3 million people in the USA today, so it’s no surprise that biomedical scientists are working hard to develop therapies to improve and restore vision. Over the past few years we have discussed several therapies that have been developed to treat different types of … Continue reading Restoring vision in night blindness: Mice point way to stem cell therapy
Straight from the animal rights book
It is that time of the year when animal rights activists, will show up at our workplaces dressed in their favorite animal costumes to spread more nonsense and misinformation about the nature of biomedical research. One of their favorite claims is that the scientific community treats animals like any other piece of disposable, laboratory equipment … Continue reading Straight from the animal rights book
Mouse study points to effective treatment of Fragile X syndrome
Fragile X syndrome is the most common genetic causes of intellectual disability, affecting about 1 in 4,000 people with more males affected than females, and also the most common genetic cause of autism, being responsible for 2-6% of all cases of autism. While no drugs have yet been approved to treat Fragile X syndrome, there … Continue reading Mouse study points to effective treatment of Fragile X syndrome
Objections to the Marginal Case Argument
Scientists are often challenged with the so-called marginal case argument. We are asked to spell out the criteria that make our experiments justifiable in animals but not in humans with comparable abilities and therefore comparable interests. These criteria, we are told, must be evaluated for each individual separately (so-called moral individualism). The resulting argument against … Continue reading Objections to the Marginal Case Argument
Good, bad, useful? Reflections on animal models for Parkinson’s disease research
Parkinson’s disease is a relentless, ruthless neurodegenerative disorder that often strikes in the early “golden years”, around 60 years of age, but sometimes much earlier. It progressively robs its victims of every capability that makes life enjoyable, from their ability to move, talk, eat by mouth, and in the worst cases, decreasing their cognitive abilities. … Continue reading Good, bad, useful? Reflections on animal models for Parkinson’s disease research
The new face of transplant surgery, thanks to animal research
Yesterday the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMM) announced most extensive full face transplant completed to date, including both jaws, teeth, and tongue. In a marathon 36-hour operation the surgical team led by Professor Eduardo Rodriguez were able to transplant a face of an anonymous donor onto their patient Richard Lee Norris, who had been … Continue reading The new face of transplant surgery, thanks to animal research
Speaking of Research 