People are criticizing mouse models of AD. There is understandable given the confusion of the roles of animals models in disease. Let me explain:
First, the very name, ‘animal model of disease” is misnomer, and the cause of most of the confusion. Animal models are more accurately described as ‘models of mechanism’.
Second, while mouse are different from humans and how a disease manifests is different as well, many of underlying mechanisms that drive a disease share strong similarities across species. Mice, rats, dogs, pigs, humans etc… all share the same fundamental building blocks and cellular/tissue/organ mechanisms. Studying how a disease or even partial aspects of a disease manifests in, say, a mouse, can offer extraordinary insights in how the disease may manifest in humans. This can provide a strong experimental basis for potential therapies in humans. (A rough analogy is the field of software is that different programs can use the same functions. Understanding how a function is misbehaving in a simple program can provide insights in how it is misbehaving in a more complex program.)
Third, many diseases are difficult or impossible to study in humans. Alzheimer’s is a good example as the progression occurs on a timescale of decades. Further, we obviously can’t go around cutting out brain tissue from live humans.
It’s a big topic, but hopefully my brief outline provides some context for the use of animals models. We scientists also use cell and organoid models, which, while lacking key details of animal models in unknown ways, can provide insights as well.
First, the very name, ‘animal model of disease” is misnomer, and the cause of most of the confusion. Animal models are more accurately described as ‘models of mechanism’.
Second, while mouse are different from humans and how a disease manifests is different as well, many of underlying mechanisms that drive a disease share strong similarities across species. Mice, rats, dogs, pigs, humans etc… all share the same fundamental building blocks and cellular/tissue/organ mechanisms. Studying how a disease or even partial aspects of a disease manifests in, say, a mouse, can offer extraordinary insights in how the disease may manifest in humans. This can provide a strong experimental basis for potential therapies in humans. (A rough analogy is the field of software is that different programs can use the same functions. Understanding how a function is misbehaving in a simple program can provide insights in how it is misbehaving in a more complex program.)
Third, many diseases are difficult or impossible to study in humans. Alzheimer’s is a good example as the progression occurs on a timescale of decades. Further, we obviously can’t go around cutting out brain tissue from live humans.
It’s a big topic, but hopefully my brief outline provides some context for the use of animals models. We scientists also use cell and organoid models, which, while lacking key details of animal models in unknown ways, can provide insights as well.