Anyone else envious of mice always being on the cutting edge of science?
I don't know how enviable is that on average. Most experiments don't end up with a discovery, let alone a discovery of something beneficial.
And in many variants, for example one’s likely to be diabetic, get Alzheimer’s disease, etc.
If you want to know more of mouse dystopia, visit https://www.jax.org/jax-mice-and-services
> Plus, unlike monkeys, no one cares.
Animal welfare groups do, as does the law in some (most, I hope) countries.
I do, too, but I do realize I benefit from that mouse dystopia, too.
I've seen protests against and heard about attempts to free lab monkeys. To the best of my knowledge, there are no similar issues around mice in any significant numbers.
The main advantage we have found so far is that drug studies done on rats can serve as a reference for safe and potentially effective dosages, as there's very little veterinary literature on rodent care otherwise. All meds for rats are typically repurposed cat, dog or human meds and determining the dose needed for treatment is trial and error more often than not – even in the hands of an experienced vet.
Also: much love to my fellow ratto parents out there, best pet on earth imo.