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Biotech Science

Weapon-X Mice 38

Posted by timothy from the knock-out-mice dept.
Bob Vila's Hammer writes "New Scientist has this article about a new breed of mice created in a lab. They have the ability to heal wounds very effectively as they have been genetically engineered to produce large amounts of a protein called angiopoietin-related growth factor. This AGF was found to be in high concentrations at the site of wounds and is expecting further study to ascertain its full potential use in treatments for skin disorders and diseases in humans."
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Weapon-X Mice More

Weapon-X Mice

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  • ...so I'm sure they stand up well to derogatory comments about their little pink eyes.

    Or their swollen ears, noses and eyelids.
  • *squeak* *squeak* *SNIKT*

  • Curious... (Score:3, Funny)

    by spumoni_fettuccini ( 668603 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @06:53PM (#6447724) Journal
    "This finding is very interesting and could lead to novel therapies for skin diseases such as psoriasis, allergies or wound healing," says Yuichi Oike, who led the research at Keio University in Tokyo.

    Bob Vila's Hammer, eh? Paying attention to healing research becuase you hit the wrong nail one time too many?

    • Re:Curious... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Bob Vila's Hammer ( 614758 ) *
      :-) No. I do have allergies though, and an associated dermititis. More intense allergic reactions to food and other allergens cause rashy manifestations. It is very unpleasant.

      I'm hoping that this technology can be used somehow to shorten the length of this type of reaction, but I guess more research is needed - the article only mentions injuries.

      What I'm interested in is whether increased AGF healing still leaves scars. The article also didn't remark on that.

      • Re:Curious... (Score:4, Informative)

        by ravenousbugblatter ( 682061 ) <ravenousbugblatter@yahoo.com> on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @09:56PM (#6449097)
        Bob Villa - AGF has nothing to do with allergies, which are essentially a hyperactive immune response to a foreign antigen. So you'll have to keep waiting and taking antihistamines and getting steroid shots when you eat the wrong thing...:~(

        I would be willing to bet that scarring is minimal (with small injuries) as scar tissue is different than normal skin. This could potentially be a very lucrative drug target and I'll bet that big pharma will be doing some studies of their own soon. It'll be interesting to see what the result of the knockout study is...my bet is that it's embryonic lethal (loss of the gene during embryonic development causes the fetal mice to be non-viable).

        • No, I was just referring to the healing that is involved in repairing tissue after a reaction. NOT the reaction. Some extreme reactions cause entire body-wide outbreaks that take sometimes weeks to heal. Boosted AGF in conjunction with allergy therapies that suppress immune response seems like it would be even better than just steroidal therapy and antihistamines.
      • That was my first thought, as I had spent a long time in construction. I've got a friend with a similar problem and I'll tell them about this [hope it helps you both] BTW thanks for replying [gave me a chance to catch that cancer article you posted, good info]
    • Bob Vila's Hammer, eh? Paying attention to healing research becuase you hit the wrong nail one time too many?

      Probably not. Anyone who's watched the show knows that Bob hardly ever did any of the work. Norm did all the tough stuff (and probably banged his fingers quite a bit).

  • a plan! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @07:00PM (#6447789)
    Okay, so we take one of these mice who's a real ASSHOLE, then coat his little skeleton with a super-hard metal and retractable claws, and _then_ we'll have the first X-Mouse.

    We should genetically modify some of these to have USB connectors first, though. Maybe FireWire, since they'll be all super and shit...
    • The article noted that the transgenic mice had thicker skin and ears than normal. Sounds like "the Thing" to me (you know, the big orange Marvel character that looked like his skin was made out of rock).

  • about time... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Polo ( 30659 ) * on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @07:04PM (#6447831) Homepage

    About time to think about building a better mousetrap.

  • And in other news... (Score:4, Funny)

    by ae0nflx ( 679000 ) <bjberg@@@pacbell...net> on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @07:07PM (#6447854)
    Supplies of adamantium have drop around the globe after two firms began competing for the rare substance. One firm, located in Toyko seems to be using the substance in mice, while the other, located in a frozen tundra in Canada, seems to be using it to create an woman with really pointy claws....

  • The Ultimate Weapon (Score:5, Funny)

    by fuzzybunny ( 112938 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @11:13PM (#6449601) Homepage Journal

    All I want are fricken mice with fricken laser beams attached to their heads, is that so much to ask?

  • don't you mean wolverine/logan? (Score:3, Informative)

    by portscan ( 140282 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2003 @01:02AM (#6450164)
    I am pretty sure that Weapon-X was the name given to Wolverine by the research facility that bonded the adamantium to his skeleton. The healing factor is one of his natural mutant abilities (and, in fact, is what allowed him to survive the adamantium bonding process). So, unless they've found a way to do that (which is what I first thought after reading the headline), it would just be Wolverine.
    • Spot the comic-book pedant. :-)
    • I was aware of the discrepancy. I was going to name the story Wolverine Mice but just decided on Weapon-X instead.

      Wolverine Mice naturally depicts a mouse with terrific claws, ragged teeth, and a terrible temper (the characteristics of a cross-breed: mouse and wolverine - impossible).

      Weapon-X Mice sounds like a project or experiment - which is what produced this breed and one that still hints at the mutant healing factor that the comic character Wolverine uses.
  • I'm doing the same thing I try to do every day, Pinky.... Try to take over the world! Brain could create a subservient army of such supermice and then use it to... well, take over the world.

  • Economic Benefits of Accelerated Healing (Score:3, Interesting)

    by vudufixit ( 581911 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2003 @06:58AM (#6451250)
    I've been thinking of bottlenecks in the national economy. One of them is injuries and healing. It occurred to me that if someone could translate a growth factor like this to human usage, and get people with injuries healed and back to work faster, it could save billions in health care costs and lost productivity.
  • Behold, the power of cheeze!

    -
  • with anything is the healing process... is the possibility of causing blood clots, etc.

    Blood clots are sometimes due to blood congealing/thickening when it shouldn't (as opposed to when it should, when you are hurt). Some tumours, cancer, and others are I also believe caused to accelerated cell-growth.

    Having fast-healing wounds could be nice... but there could definately be nasty side effects. It might have a detriment to people who favour piercings too...
  • There are actually other studies done quite a few years ago about quick-healing mice. If anyone is interested, and I think you can actually read these articles without the benefit of a subscription (take that Elsevier!), you might want to take a look at the abstract [nih.gov] for one of these studies; or if you're feeling feisty, the full article [pnas.org]. This article [nih.gov] requires a subscription, but is a nice review of how they found the trait and what has been done more recently. Another, I believe subscription required, Na [nature.com]
  • Taken side by side with the recent article about how lab mice may be psychotic [slashdot.org] i can smell trouble. Surely there's a guideline somewhere about not creating insane super mice - you just know it'll look like a bad idea in retrospect. /t

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