Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Weapon-X Mice

Posted by timothy on from the knock-out-mice dept.

Bob Vila's Hammer writes "New Scientist has this article about a new breed of mice created in a lab. They have the ability to heal wounds very effectively as they have been genetically engineered to produce large amounts of a protein called angiopoietin-related growth factor. This AGF was found to be in high concentrations at the site of wounds and is expecting further study to ascertain its full potential use in treatments for skin disorders and diseases in humans."

7 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. a plan! by Tumbleweed · · Score: 3, Funny

    Okay, so we take one of these mice who's a real ASSHOLE, then coat his little skeleton with a super-hard metal and retractable claws, and _then_ we'll have the first X-Mouse.

    We should genetically modify some of these to have USB connectors first, though. Maybe FireWire, since they'll be all super and shit...

  2. about time... by Polo · · Score: 4, Funny


    About time to think about building a better mousetrap.

  3. And in other news... by ae0nflx · · Score: 4, Funny

    Supplies of adamantium have drop around the globe after two firms began competing for the rare substance. One firm, located in Toyko seems to be using the substance in mice, while the other, located in a frozen tundra in Canada, seems to be using it to create an woman with really pointy claws....

  4. Re:beware the bezerker-mouse attack! by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Step away from the cheese, bub."

    --
    Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
  5. Re:Curious... by ravenousbugblatter · · Score: 4, Informative
    Bob Villa - AGF has nothing to do with allergies, which are essentially a hyperactive immune response to a foreign antigen. So you'll have to keep waiting and taking antihistamines and getting steroid shots when you eat the wrong thing...:~(

    I would be willing to bet that scarring is minimal (with small injuries) as scar tissue is different than normal skin. This could potentially be a very lucrative drug target and I'll bet that big pharma will be doing some studies of their own soon. It'll be interesting to see what the result of the knockout study is...my bet is that it's embryonic lethal (loss of the gene during embryonic development causes the fetal mice to be non-viable).

  6. The Ultimate Weapon by fuzzybunny · · Score: 4, Funny


    All I want are fricken mice with fricken laser beams attached to their heads, is that so much to ask?

    --
    Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
  7. don't you mean wolverine/logan? by portscan · · Score: 3, Informative

    I am pretty sure that Weapon-X was the name given to Wolverine by the research facility that bonded the adamantium to his skeleton. The healing factor is one of his natural mutant abilities (and, in fact, is what allowed him to survive the adamantium bonding process). So, unless they've found a way to do that (which is what I first thought after reading the headline), it would just be Wolverine.