- Animal research is critical for solving problems of human health, sickness, and rehabilitation from injury.
- Research on rodents, including the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus), has played an important role in the development of a wide range of treatments and cures, many of which are detailed below:
Image courtesy of Speaking of Research (https://speakingofresearch.com/)
- Importantly, animal research is not the same as animal testing. That is, it does not involve putting lipstick on pigs, makeup on rabbits, or other frivolous or purely capitalistic use of animals for human comfort and/or entertainment.
- Animal research at universities is highly regulated and closely supervised: it is conducted only with the approval of a university animal care and use committee (IACUC), closely monitored by one or more veterinarians. These veterinarians operate independently from the researcher(s) and have the power to immediately suspend research activities if they note noncompliance with regulations and/or approved protocols or if they see unnecessary suffering in laboratory animals.
- The MusLab works with mouse models of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Although mice cannot experience or be diagnosed with “Autism” per se, they can still provide useful models of ASDs. How can that be? We take advantage of the ~120 years of accumulated scientific knowledge of mouse behavior, particularly established norms of social and other autism-relevant behaviors displayed by common laboratory strains of mice. With a solid basis of expectation regarding normal mouse social, communicative, and repetitive behavior, we are able to employ a variety of controlled behavioral assays to measure deviations from these norms. Many of these tests are closely tuned to the natural developmental and ecological niches of mice and thus measure variation in outcomes that is more likely to inform human development.
- Where do mouse models of ASDs come from?
- There are currently dozens of mouse models of autism. Many involve direct “translation” from humans. For example, researchers often start with a gene that has been identified as associated with autism in humans (e.g., CNTNAP2, PTEN, RELN) and then study the effects of the gene and relevant gene-products in mice. Controlled studies in model organisms are currently one of the only ways of gaining mechanistic understanding of how gene-products function in the brain and body and how they contribute to pathology in humans. By gaining mechanistic understanding of causal pathways we open up possible avenues for the development of treatments.
- Another type of model begins with a substance that has already been identified as a trigger or potential trigger of ASDs in humans (e.g., sodium valproate) and looks at the effects of such exposures on the development of ASD-relevant behaviors in mice. Again, performing controlled experiments in an animal model is currently the only way behavioral scientists can gain mechanistic insight into autism-relevant causal pathways. Although a mouse will never be equivalent to a human, research on mice can nevertheless be invaluable in providing insight into causal processes operating in humans.
