Mouse Genome Project

Medical treatments are often tested in laboratory mice. However, promising ideas from mouse studies sometimes fail in human trials.

Most laboratory mice come from highly inbred strains, thus ensuring enough genetic similarity to make test results meaningful. The genomes of 162 strains of mice will now be available in the Mouse Online Phylogeny Viewer.

The viewer will enable scientists to examine “the genome of the mouse strains they are using or considering,” choosing those which should provide results “that can be more effectively extrapolated to the diverse human population,” said Dr. Pardo-Manuel de Villena. “As scientists use this resource to find ways to prevent and treat the genetic changes that cause cancer, heart disease, and a host of other ailments . . . lab experiments should be much easier to translate to humans.”

A common Designer who created all organisms with the same biochemistry to live in the same world would naturally build in genetic similarities.

The article defines phylogeny as “connections among all groups of organisms as understood by ancestor/descendant relationships.” True enough for mice. But when applied to “all groups of organisms,” it assumes that genetic similarities between different kinds of organisms can only be explained by common ancestry. A common Designer who created all organisms with the same biochemistry to live in the same world would naturally build in genetic similarities.

When it comes to biomedical research, we can be thankful God designed us with the same biochemistry as laboratory animals. This project should help researchers boost the efficiency of their research in hopes of finding cures for many of the curses in this world.