Mice Created With Human Brain Cells

pin_gween writes "Scientists have added 100,000 human brain cells to mice in an effort to create realistic models of disorders like Parkinson's Disease. Although mice are 97.5 percent genetically identical to humans and it sounds like a large number, 100,000 only represents 0.1% of the number of cells in mice brains. FTA: 'It's true that there is a huge amount of similarity, but the differences are huge,' Snyder said. 'You will never ever have a little human trapped inside a mouse or monkey's body. [...] Researchers are nevertheless beginning to bump up against what bioethicists call the "yuck factor." 'The worry is if you humanize them too much you cross certain boundaries,' said David Magnus, director of the Stanford Medical Center for Biomedical Ethics. 'But I don't think this research comes even close to that.'"

Comments

NARF!

[Noctopus]

I for one welcome our new Pinky and the Brain overlords. NARF!

42

[Anonymous Coward]

The mice were furious.

Re:42

[Hognoxious]

What, both of them?

WTF?

[Tune]

I thought mice - being pan dimensional beings - were far more advanced than humans (ranked 3, just after dolphins).
This is like modding an xbox 360/ps3/whatever with a Z80 - why whould you want to do that?

I for one welcome...

[ocelotbob]

Yay, human-brained mice. This means that once they escape and start rampaging, scientists will have no choice but to create a race of catpeople to counter them. Of course, this will lead to revolts creating a need for dogpeople, but for a short time, I shall have my catboy! Vengance shall be mine!

Re:97.5% genetically identical

[kfg]

so is all this 97.5% like generic organ, dna stuff?

You're about 50% banana.

i dont see the similarities between humans and mice

You obviously haven't even looked at a banana very closely, let alone a mouse. About the only difference a lifeform from the proverbial Mars would see between a human and a mouse would be scale. We are virtually identical to mice in every detail but stature.

If you want learn human anatomy, disect a chicken, and a chicken isn't even a mammal.

KFG

The "yuck factor"

[TripMaster Monkey]

Researchers are nevertheless beginning to bump up against what bioethicists call the "yuck factor."

Everyone wants to save Hitler's brain...
but when you put it in the body of a Great White Shark,
suddenly, you've gone too far.

Professor Farnsworth

The conscious neuron?

[jtangen]

Remind me what's so unique about human neurons that cause people to fear that mice will somehow become conscious, thinking organisms?

Keeping a tally...

[Metasquares]

So far we have super-strong, long-lived, regenerating mice with human brain cells. We're getting pretty close to "the mice of NIMH".

so far...

[Gravis Zero]

so just for the record, we can make super strong fearless immortal mice that can sing, regenerate body parts, sniff out landmines, and have partial human brains. scientists don't mod their computer cases, they mod their mice!

Re:brain simulation?

[penguinoid]

Neurons have several thousand connections, not "about 10". Furthermore, these connections are analog (have a range of strengths), say 1 byte to address the strenghts. Given about 100,000,000 brain cells, you would need almost 30 bits per connection as well, but call it 3 bytes. At 1000 connections, you need 4 kb per neuron, or 400 Gb of memory for 1 rat brain. Barely doable, but the processor power to handle all of that will not be easy to find...