Miracle Mouse

Posted by: wfaulk

Miracle Mouse - 01/09/2005 13:09

Quote:
Scientists have created a “miracle mouse” that can regenerate amputated limbs or badly damaged organs, making it able to recover from injuries that would kill or permanently disable normal animals.

The experimental animal is unique among mammals in its ability to regrow its heart, toes, joints and tail.

The researchers have also found that when cells from the test mouse are injected into ordinary mice, they too acquire the ability to regenerate.

Awesome.

Link
Posted by: Robotic

Re: Miracle Mouse - 01/09/2005 14:15

Quote:
The researchers have also found that when cells from the test mouse are injected into ordinary mice, they too acquire the ability to regenerate.

Next they'll inject some dogs- to see if they, too, can regenerate mouse parts.
Cue the torrent of 'mouse balls' jokes...
Posted by: visuvius

Re: Miracle Mouse - 01/09/2005 15:42

That's insane. Didn't they grow a human ear on mouse's back once? I'm interested to know how simliar humans and mice are. What makes mice such good candidates for experiments? I wonder what would happen if they injected the cells into say, a guinea pig.

Science rules.
Posted by: peter

Re: Miracle Mouse - 01/09/2005 17:06

What slightly worries me about regeneration, is that simpler animals can do it, but higher animals can't. So at some stage, we must have mutated to lose the ability. But regeneration seems so massively evolutionarily selective, that it's inexplicable why such a mutant outcompeted those who could regenerate -- unless losing regeneration conferred some other even more gigantic benefit, perhaps in increased resistance to cancer or in reduced birth defects. I'd want to see several generations of these mice live and die happily before I was convinced this was a Good Thing.

Peter
Posted by: jimhogan

Re: Miracle Mouse - 01/09/2005 17:14

Quote:
What makes mice such good candidates for experiments?

They are small, easy to pick up by the tail, don't eat much, and historically they vote against unionization by predictable margins.
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Miracle Mouse - 01/09/2005 17:52

Quote:
Scientists have created a “miracle mouse” that can regenerate amputated limbs or badly damaged organs

Yeah, but will it have a second button?
Posted by: Roger

Re: Miracle Mouse - 02/09/2005 07:56

Quote:
Quote:
What makes mice such good candidates for experiments?

They are small, easy to pick up by the tail, don't eat much, and historically they vote against unionization by predictable margins.


And scientists just don't like them.