My wife and I are about to choose what to do on our M.A. theses. Both of us are considering research of Alzheimer’s disease, Aging & Cognitive Dissonance - Either on humans (Imaging or Cognitive tests) or mice (Imaging and the use of other “wet” techniques—which many of regrettably include the death of mice).
Currently, we don’t assign much value to the life of mice as test subjects when weighted against with a possible improvement of a Human’s Condition.
We do, however, wonder which of the two is more beneficial.
So: Any ideas whether Bio&Medical Research is more effective using Animal Models (not necessarily limited to mice) vs Humans?
Mice models for Alzheimer’s research may not be as valid as thought though. I recommend reading this open-access book chapter on the topic: https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004391192/BP000025.xml
Have you considered asking for this thesis advice the Effective Thesis? They probably can connect you w/ someone w/ a background in this area.
[Below are my (totally optional) thoughts on this (and I’m only a software engineer working in a genomic research institute w/ no formal biomed background):]
I would think that (ethically approved) studies on humans are more useful in general, as they translate better to other humans. Also, the more we try to reduce and substitute non-human animal experimentations w/ alternatives, the more there is incentive to develop these alternatives. I must admit though that I’m “biased”, as I consider non-human animal suffering no less urgent than equivalent suffering of humans, other things being equal.
Did’nt know about it! thanks you very much for your comments.