Mouse Studies for Alzheimer’s
“The scientific enterprise used to be small, and in any particular area of research everyone knew each other; it had this sort of artisanal quality, but gradually the system became more professionalized, it got more and more money, it made bigger and bigger promises. So the qualities that make scientific research reliable, honest, got undermined by the need to feed the beast, and the system got too big to succeed” — Susan Fitzpatrick
In Sarewitz paper, “Saving Science”, he describes the challenges within the scientific research process. Scientific discoveries are created every day by many men and women. Laboratories focus on one experiment at a time and conduct that experiment fully to the best of the scientist’s knowledge. Alzheimer’s is a condition that has been researched heavily in the past, along with many other medical conditions. Today, medical research is conducted as quick as possible and accuracy has become lessened throughout time. Laboratories throughout the United States are researching multiple issues to ‘better society.’ The system of research has become more professionalized based on the benefits of conducting the research. Conducting the research does not mean the same thing as completing the research. This intensive research costs ridiculous amounts of money and is often never finished. It is sad to see the scientific research industry jumping from a leading study to the next big experiment and leaving unfinished research and data behind. The public views scientific/medical research reliable and often base their life from it. There is some concern within the public about what happens to the unfinished research.
Individuals might wonder if that ‘forgotten study’ will end up leading to new research that will benefit society or will it cause harm to future research because it is not complete? Mice are often used in studying treatments for various diseases and conditions in humans. Due to being able to multiply rapidly and house distinct genetics, mice allow the scientist to create numerous testing environments for the study. Although mice and other animals provide some closeness to the data that would be collect if a human were examined, they do not have the ability to give the precise data that a human would. With the amount of technology utilized for scientific research, honesty is a vital role within research. However, complex diseases and conditions allows for the research to often become neglected.
Mice are used to model each experiment in these complex studies; therefore, creating no reliable credit to that scientist conducting the experiment. This relates back to how the data collected with mice is not fully identical to human data. Mice, when used to conduct experiments based on the human brain health and behavior against Alzheimer’s, create a false sense of authority towards that experiment. Scientific studies for Alzheimer’s disease should continue the research obtained with mice; however, the studies may need to be altered to create more accurate results given by humans. Why does the studies conducted for Alzheimer’s stop with the data the mice provide?
