Scientists Using Gene-Altered Mice to Study Diseases, Post Says
Scientists Using Gene-Altered Mice to Study Diseases, Post Says
Washington, June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Scientists at the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. are using mice genetically engineered with human diseases to better understand disease processes and find cures faster, The Washington Post reported in its final Sunday edition. Scientists can then analyze as many times as needed the mice, which are injected at embryonic stages with the same biological defects that cause diabetes, cancer or cystic fibrosis in humans, the paper said, citing NIH immunologist Ronald Schwartz. Critics, however, say the practice is cruel and contradicts recent, more compassionate trends in high-technology animal research, the newspaper said.
Trial tests for Pfizer Inc.'s impotence-fighting Viagra found that some pregnant mice treated with the drug produced blind offspring.
(WP, 6/7, A1, www.washingtonpost.com)
11:40:25 06/07/1998
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