[ExI] Myostatin-inhibitor patron

[Dan]

--- On Mon, 5/25/09, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:
> Of course, there are a bunch of laws controlling animal
> testing.
> If you just buy some mice and start injecting them, you are
> probably
> breaking these laws.
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_testing>
> 
> Animal testing of treatments intended for human use are
> especially
> rigorous. It is not just trying to find something that
> works. Testing
> has to try to check for toxicity, side-effects, cancer
> causing, etc.
> and usually takes many years and much expense before being
> authorized
> for human use.
> 
> And even after all that, there is no guarantee that because
> it works
> in mice it will also work in humans. Some new drugs had to
> withdrawn
> after human tests killed or damaged people. Chimpanzees
> infected with
> HIV don't get sick, for example.
> And the opposite also applies. Some drugs that damage mice
> are
> perfectly safe in humans.
> 
> There are many problems associated with animal testing.
> (And it's not just about saving the cuddly bunnies!).

Or cuddly mice!  :@  However, for me ethical concerns would not be unimportant.

That said, I agree that testing in non-human animals doesn't always provide useful knowledge for human animals.*  I'm not sure if that follows with myostatin though.  How different are mice and humans in this area?  I imagine, if this is unknown, Bryan's research might shed some light and tell you whether the mouse model here would be a good match for humans.

Regards,

Dan

*  In the end, [almost?] everything is like everything else -- and, at the same time, [almost?] everything is  different from everything else.