Jul 29 2007

Dumb Scientist Tricks

Published by at 11:36 am under All General Discussions

Want to know how to waste money? Well, why not start with scientists trying to breed mentally impaired mice:

SCIENTISTS have created the world’s first schizophrenic mice in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the illness. It is believed to be the first time an animal has been genetically engineered to have a mental illness.

The headline says it all:

Scientists breed world’s first mentally ill mouse

How can mice get any more mentally challenged?? And how did they measure the fact these mice are schizophrenic? Did they lay the mice down on tiny couches and discuss their feelings towards their mothers (Which of course would be the mad scientists themselves)?

Don’t get me wrong, I am a scientist at heart and understand research is important. But these mice are not the first dumb or mentally challenged mice on the face of the earth (no matter what the headlines say). And trust me when I say lobatomizing mice is not new. The fact someone hammered genes required to ensure normal brain development is not as earh shattering as those, who spent years making sure they could do so without killing the mice, may make it seem in PR presentations. When they make a smart mouse, then I will be interested. Or one resitent to illnesses.

What you want to watch out for is to make sure these people are not going to be moving onto human embryos after this stunning success.

Comments Off on Dumb Scientist Tricks

Comments are closed.