Of Mice And Men

February 13, 2013

A technician holds a laboratory mouse at the Jackson Laboratory, Jan. 24, 2006, in Bar Harbor, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)

For decades, mice models have been the cornerstone model in scientific labs when studying the effects of new medications.

But new research suggests mice may not provide the most accurate information when it comes to studying dangerous human conditions such as burns, trauma, and the deadly bacterial infection, sepsis.

Guest:

Dr Shaw Warren, sepsis researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and a lead author of the new study

Other stories from this show:

Joycejax

All the tests in this study used mice from just one inbred strain (C57BL6), of which every member is genetically identical. That’s like testing every drug on one single human being and extrapolating the results to all humanity.

The success of mouse-based research speaks for itself: virtually every Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology from the past half-century has been awarded to researchers using mouse models.

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Of Mice And Men