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Showing posts with the label microengineering

Seriously, why do we still use mice in labs?

I was planning on posting a new blog post on new CRISPR results, then I realised 2 keywords in the title: this has been successful in mice . Almost every piece of research that I have posted on this blog has been either tested in mice  or its been successful in mice . Image [1] This got me thinking, why do we still use mice to test everything on? So many new drugs and other therapies have proven to be successful in mice, but when applied to humans, they weren't successful at all.  If you type into Google Scholar in mice, app 3,960,000 results come up. So clearly mice are incredibly important for scientific research if so much has been published on them. The well-known reasons ... Small size Easy to house and look after Adapt to new surroundings easily Have a short lifespan (2-3 years), therefore we can study generations of mice in a short period of time Inexpensive and can be bought in large quantities Can be bred specifically for research (medical trials requ