Mice as Stand-Ins in the Fight Against Disease by Andrew Pollack. The New York Times. Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Key Ideas/Summary: Researchers have begun implanting tumors from patients into mice so that various drugs can be tried to determine the most effective drug or drugs to treat the tumor. Using mice as "avatars" can perhaps avoid side effects and ineffective treatments. However, researchers realize that a tumor implanted under a mouse's skin may not behave as it does in a human. Also, the time involved in raising enough mice with the tumor so that an array of drugs can be tested sometimes results in the cancer patient dying before a treatment can be determined. Genetic testing of tumors for mutations is an alternative to this approach. However the "avatar" approach has sometimes been more effective
No comments:
Post a Comment