[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mister Pamboli:
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quote:
Originally posted by techristian:
Yes I can see that we have much in common with RATS! Rats are the used the most in labs these days. Yes I can see that mankind has done very deep analysis of RAT/human similarities and came up with rats as a likely choice for developing medicine and antibiotics. NOT !
Actually you were pretty much right until the last word. We do share some important metabolic and physiological traits with rats thanks to our common ancestry and these similarities are the basis of many experiments.
It is naturally important for the differences as well as the similarities to be borne in mind, which is one of the reasons I oppose a lot of animal testing, especially of items such as cosmetics and household solvents. Nevertheless, rats do have great similarities which can be used very effectively. For example, gene therapy has proven highly effective in treating rats with parkinson's disease. The rats have been treated with genes which code for enzymes necessary for the production of L-Dopa. The results have been very exciting improvements in the rats' motility. Now here is the important point - Parkinson's related motility problems in humans are also due to lack fo L-dopa, the same genes in humans and rats encode for the production of L-dopa, and the same vectors can be used to deliver the payload of genes. Sadly, these results probably won't lead to effective therapy in time to help my own father, but I am very grateful for our genetic relationship to rats and the hope it will bring to others.
Given that mice and rats have historical associations with humans, we actually do have a lot in commmon.
However, the real issue is that we are mammals.
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