Mouse genes
Posted by ErikZ on March 8th, 2006inhumane
adj : lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion
One of the sites I’ve been visiting for…woah, about 10 years now is Slashdot. There’s nothing really special about it, it’s “News for Nerds, stuff that matters”. The only reason it managed to get so popular is that they were one of the first sites to fill their nitch. People post a link to a story and a paragraph of introduction, and then everyone gets to post their comments. People’s posts are rated, which helps filter out the worst of the garbage, and what you get is about 95% blabbering, and 5% really interesting, useful posts.
The other day a news item came up about designer mice. Mice who have been genetically altered to the needs of the Scientist. For example, if you’re studying arthritis, you can order mice that are arthritic. Ok, it doesn’t sound like much, but the scientists are ecstatic.
A mouse with arthritis runs close to $200; two pairs of epileptic mice can cost 10 times that. You want three blind mice? That’ll run you about $250. And for your own custom mouse, with the genetic modification of your choosing, expect to pay as much as $100,000.
And what do I see as the first comment on Slashdot?
Does not the deliberate creation of a living creature to have a specific disability of some sort seem in some way cruel or inhumane? Or is it just me?
Well, that set me off. These mice are being used to increase our knowledge of genetics and genetic diseases. I’m a science junkie, but I never read too much into genetic diseases. When you have a flaw in what builds your body, the problems are inevitable. Since it’s in the foundation of what makes you, it’s usually untreatable. At best, they can deal with the symptoms.
It’s just too tragic for me to deal with, so I acknowledge its existence and move on.
There is hope though. We finished mapping the human genome a few years ago. And we’ve also mapped the lab mouse, and a few other organisms that science loves to use. We’ve discovered that mice and men have the same genes. The only difference is where they’re placed in the DNA and when they turn on and off. Using these mice will tell us what these genes do, and give us clues on how they do it.
It would be an understatement to say, “We have a lot of genes to go through”, but for us to fix or modify human DNA, this is what it’s going to take. It’s also going to take a lot of mice.
So, on a lighter note, back to Slashdot. I sat there and tried to come up with a good response to this guy. Humor seemed to be the best way to do it, and I guess I did it pretty well. It was given the highest rating for humor possible.
Inhumane?! Science being cold, calculating and pitiless? Say it isn’t so!
Don’t worry about it, when the tests are done, they cure the arthritic mice, put the anti-seizure chip in the epileptic mice, and tiny little bionic eyes in the blind mice. Then they send them to a local farm and release them in a field. Where it’s nice and sunny and they can run and laugh and frolic all day long.
But usually they last about 15 minutes before an owl comes by and eviscerates it. A lot of owls hang out by that field, we’re not sure why.
Apparently, I’d be a laugh riot at the lab. I should get one of those lapel flowers that shoot water.
If you’re interested in what’s being done today with curing genetic diseases, one of the fields is called “Genetic Therapy”. I wish those scientists who work in genetics the best of luck and success.