Celebrate 100 years of mouse entry into the laboratory

The year 2009 marks 100 years of rats accompanying researchers on the path of scientific discovery.

This landmark is from the first genetically engineered mouse generation in 1909, by genetic researcher Clarence Cook Little, Harvard University.

However, according to many people, the number 100 is incorrect. Since the 19th century, psychologists and biologists have included rats in their experiments. In 1870, Robert Koch used a mouse to study anthrax bacteria or Paul Ehrlich made hundreds of experiments since the early 20th century, by transplanting tumors into mice.

Rats were used in scientific research experiments because of a human-like biological mechanism and low cost.

Rats are animals that are easy to breed and reproduce quickly and are small in size, sufficient for laboratory scale. In addition, their biological mechanisms are very similar to humans. Even though this level of similarity cannot be achieved by primate or pig, millions of mice are still 'prioritized' for use in countless laboratories around the world because the two animals are very difficult to raise and quite expensive .

In 1909, Professor Clarence Little founded Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, South America. The laboratory's main task is to study genetic genetic mechanisms to support the prevention and treatment of human diseases, thereby providing knowledge to the world biomedical community.

Jackson's lab has more than 4,000 genetic resources of different mouse varieties and is the largest center in the world that specializes in providing laboratory mice for this specialty science, seminar, training and education course.

Dr. Geog Snell, of the Jackson Laboratory, won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Medicine for a study that explored the role of genes in accepting or excreting donor organs. Dr. Snell conducted experiments on mice.

Today, mice are widely used in cancer research, immunity and transplantation techniques. Psychologists also use rats to study the mechanisms of memory and behavior.

This shows that, together with modern scientific equipment, mice that are less favored in daily life are playing an important role in the success of modern science today.

In honor of the "merits" of the rats, many of the mouse-shaped monuments have been built around the world. In Russia, people built a statue of a rat near the veterinary lab, Zadonsk town.