We originally thought that if we made mouse antibodies, we could throw them into a patient and, shazam, there'd be a cure. N.J. The problem with MAb technology was that the human immune system rejected mouse-derived antibodies. But monoclonal antibody technology is really going to fulfill its promise in the first decade of the new millennium. Medarex's antibodies are headed toward clinical trials to treat autoimmune disorders. Jerry Shay stresses that although the benefits of mice far outweigh the negatives, there are important differences between the mouse and human species.
Mice have eclectic uses.
In basic research, mice have revealed how the vertebrate embryo develops and how changes in the prenatal environment affect learning. Some mice that are given human genes acquire new skills. One strain can see farther than normal into the red part of the spectrum, thanks to a human photopigment gene, and another manufactures human growth hormone. Mice are particularly valuable in identifying human genes, because genome organization corresponds so closely between the two species. Mammalian genomes are all derived from the same original mammalian chromosome set.