Scientific (not moral) use of lab-rats and/or mice...?

Question

So, I've suddenly remembered a few details from my glory days in the big brick prison we called Rogers High School.

Speaking as far as DNA and anatomy, our hairy knuckle-dragging banana-fueled friends are closest to humans. Yet I also remember one oh-so-loathed science teacher telling me that mice and rats were used because biologically, they are more similar to humans.

So. What is the purpose of using little paws 'n' whiskers as test subjects rather than the fecal-tossin' fiends? Is it cost, or something with an actual fact-base?

Answer 1

Contrary to you opinion, cost is a very important factor especially when dealing with experiments which require tremendous results with relatively little funding.

Your science teacher was wrong in saying that we are more closely related to rats than monkeys. Monkeys and humans differ in chromosomal number by 1 where as the offset between rats and humans is much more dramatic.

Also, one must take into consideration the housing needs for the test animals. To house and feed a rat is much more simple and cost effective than to do so with monkeys.

Rats reproduce VERY quickly and with little mutation. They are also VERY adaptive in regards to environmental stress. Rats are much more abundant than monkeys.

Also, one must ask a question, is it harder to kill a larger animal than a smaller one? (not necessarily moral, but rather consistent in normal human decision)

You decide

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Mice and rats are not more closely related to us than monkeys.  But they are still related, and respond to medications in many of the same ways that we do.  And there are a lot more of them around than monkeys.

I'm not sure why you decided scientific use of animals is not moral.  Have you stopped taking all medications then?  Stopped getting vaccinations?  Stopped using all cosmetic products?  Or are you perhaps being hypocritical?

Without animal testing, 90% of medical progress would end.  And a whole lot of people would die.  Would you rather have 10 rats or your mother?

Answer 3

Chimps are more similar, but rats are cheaper to use for testing...

Answer 4

We use rats and mice for 2 main reasons:

1.  Their life cycles are short and thus things that would take years to become prominent in a primate  only take weeks or months in rats and mice.

2.  Physiologically, there are very few differences between humans, rats, and mice.  We metabolize drugs in essentially the same fashion.  When comparing mass versus toxicity of substances, the effects are almost linear between humans and rats (not mice, that's why LD50's are established in rats).  

Cost is part of the equation, but time is the biggest part.  Let's say we're running drug studies and we need to test the efficacy of a new drug in vivo.  We can do this in a few short weeks with rats, and we'll learn about most potentially deadly side effects.  Working with primates would take much longer.  

  

There are many more examples on why rodents in general are more preferable to primates, but it's not always the case.