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OHSU Turns Mouse into Factory for Human Liver Cells
Oregon Health & Science University researchers have figured out how to turn a mouse into a factory for human liver cells that can be used to test how pharmaceuticals are metabolized. The technique, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, could soon become the gold standard not only for examining drug metabolism in the liver, which helps scientists determine a drug's toxicity, but also can be used as a platform for testing new therapies against infectious diseases that attack the liver, such as hepatitis C and malaria.
Does it matter if they don't like it? Scientists are doing this kind of thing (research on mice/rats, not successfully creating a factory for liver cells) all the time. If those PETA people are going to let scientists do research on them, fine, but if not they should STFU and let these scientists help sick people get better - I think that's much more important than making sure that a mouse gets to run around in a sewer. It is a bit 'mean' to research on them like this, sure, but if you keep with that line of reasoning then you just shouldn't ever eat anything, because it's all alive at some point, and we have taken advantage of even the vegetables by planting and harvested their organs.
"Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?"
And the angel said unto me,
"These are the cries of the carrots,
the cries of the carrots.
You see, reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day
and to them it is the holocaust."
And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat
like the tears of one millions terrified brothers
and roared,
"Hear me now,
I have seen the light,
they have a consciousness,
they have a life,
they have a soul.
damn you!
let the rabbits wear glasses,
save our brothers...can I get an amen?"
which is totally what she said
If the idiots at PITA didn't care more for a mouse than it did human life. They would realize that if we were not testing on these mice the mice would never even have been born.
I'm not much of a PETA supporter. I think that avoiding cruelty to animals is important, but I strongly object to the idea that we have no right to make use of them for food or for research into medicines that save human lives. However, I would like to point out that this line of reasoning is nigh-irrelevant in the context of their beliefs about the inherent rights of animals. Let me ask a simple, devil's advocate question to illustrate why:
Wouldn't this same justification for mistreatment apply to people born into slavery thanks to forced breeding?
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
isn't the Human Liver a factory for Human Liver cells ?
shouldn't they be doing research into organs that don't regenerate by themselves?
They're using their grammar skills there.