Why do scientists use mice to study diseases?
In research, it is increasingly common to use mice to model diseases.
Today, mice can show symptoms of autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,
Schizophrenia, ataxia, cancers, and almost any other disease or disorder
you can imagine. Using mouse models of neurological diseases and
disorders enables researchers to learn about how the condition changes
the brain, and attempt to devise treatment strategies. The overarching
goal with translational rodent research is to see what went wrong in
the brain, and try to fix it with therapies that could potentially alleviate
suffering for people who have these diseases and disorders.
Given the choice, many researchers would prefer to use some sort
of digital model of the brain and stop using mice. However, creating a
model brain assumes that we already know everything about how the
brain works. In order to create a useful model, researchers would truly
have to understand how every part of the brain functions and connects
to other parts. Despite huge advances in neuroscience, we’re quite a
long way from knowing this much about the brain. Until we have such
a deep knowledge, we must rely on mice or other organisms to model
diseases.
Historically, there have been cases where research animals were
obtained inappropriately, and their well–being was ignored. Today,
special regulations and committees are in place at research institutions
to advocate for the safety and comfort of research animals. These
committees include experts in the field, veterinarians, and non–
scientists from the community. Scientists are prohibited from
performing experiments until they have the committee’s approval.
When deciding if it is appropriate to use animals in research, this
committee considers ways to minimize stress and discomfort for the
animals, as well as the importance of the research. In all research, these
committee members and the scientists conducting the studies take
care to demonstrate respect for research animals.