As if it were really needed, here is further proof that animal research is absolutely necessary to the alleviation of human suffering and finding treatments for terrible afflictions: Scientsts have been able to recreate Alzheimer’s disease in mouse models which will permit the affliction to be studied in ways that could never be done in living humans. From the story:
A common form of dementia has been artificially reproduced for the first time, in a move experts have hailed as a “crucial breakthrough” in our understanding of the disease. The development allows scientists the first ever opportunity to map the onset of the disease, similar to Alzheimer’s, and track how drugs affect it...These scientists better watch out for bombs under their cars or receiving threatening videos of their children playing in school.
By creating the same damage to the brain in mice, the scientists, led by Professor John Mayer, at the University of Nottingham, hope to improve on the current treatments for the disease, which target only its symptoms and do nothing to tackle its causes. While previous genetically engineered mouse models have recreated proteins thought to damage the brain, Prof Mayer and his team are the first to also reproduce the nerve cell death, another symptom of dementia with Lewy bodies, which scientists believe could be one cause of the condition.
Prof Mayer said: “This mouse model is the first platform to understand how the brain cell deterioration takes place. We will use this model to identify targets for new drugs to slow or prevent the disease.”
