Sep 23, 2005

Down syndrome recreated in mice

Posted in Health at 7:41 am by David Bradley -- 1 Comment

Here’s one to really get the animal rights activists up in arms (as if they aren’t already). The BBC reports that scientists have been able to “introduce most of a human chromosome into mice – and create the most successful recreation of Down’s syndrome so far.” I’m not sure whether the activists will find this better or worse than the ear grown on a mouse’s back in 1999 by Joseph Vacanti. Regardless, a mouse model of the disease will inevitably lead to controversy, but more importantly, it will lead to a better understanding of the syndrome itself.