🟥 Advantages and Limitations of Using Mice as a Tool for Medical Scientific Research

Using mice as a tool for medical scientific research has broad advantages, but also has certain limitations. The following is an overview of its main advantages and disadvantages:

1. Advantages:

(1) Clear genetic background and strong controllability

The mouse genome has been fully analyzed, and precise gene editing (such as knockout, knockin, conditional knockout, etc.) can be performed through technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9.

(2) Highly similar human physiology and disease mechanisms

Mice and humans have high similarities in immune system, nervous system, endocrine system, etc., and are widely used in cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disease research.

(3) Short life cycle and fast reproduction

The gestation period of mice is only about 21 days, and they can reproduce multiple generations a year, which is convenient for observing the long-term evolution of diseases.

(4) Low experimental cost and easy to manage

Mice are small in size and require little space for breeding. They are economical and efficient animal models commonly used in laboratories.

(5) Diversified model types

A large number of models of breast cancer, lung cancer, Alzheimer's disease, immunodeficiency, etc. have been established, covering a variety of human diseases.

2. Limitations:

(1) Physiological differences between humans and mice still exist

Despite their similarities, mice still have differences with humans in drug metabolism, immune response, tumor microenvironment, etc., which may lead to failure in clinical translation.

(2) Complex behaviors and advanced cognition are difficult to simulate

In the study of mental illness, autism, etc., the interpretability and reproducibility of mouse behavior models are low.

(3) Some diseases are difficult to model

For example, hepatitis B virus cannot be naturally infected in conventional mice, and can only rely on humanized mouse models.

(4) Ethical disputes increase

Although not as sensitive as large animals, the ethical standards for animal experiments are becoming increasingly strict, and the "3R principle" (replacement, reduction, optimization) must be followed.

(5) High-throughput screening is still limited

Compared with cell models, mouse experiments are less efficient in high-throughput drug screening and rapid drug evaluation.

Overall, mice are an indispensable model tool in basic and translational research in medicine, but in specific applications, they still need to be combined with organoids, humanized models, in vitro systems and clinical data for complementary verification to improve research quality and clinical translation efficiency.