un-blind mice?
Today there is a real important happening announced today over at the Los Angles Times.
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A doctor has improved the vision in 12 blind persons. Sounds like really spectacular improvements.
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There are many different things that can cause blindness, these 12 blind people all had a genetic defect called RPE65 type blindness.
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The thing which made this treatment so noteworthy was that it was done with genetic therapy, like if you injected normal genes into an albino, and then they started making pigment on their own.
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The article itself isn't speculative, it raises many scenarios in my mind:
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Although no mention was made, one way or the other, whether or not any animals were used in making this treatment possible, it raises a question of how animal are employed in research.
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While some people want all harmful research stopped on all animals, other people are content with improving animal conditions without shutting down research, like:
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1) restricting using animals to only necessary experiments - not just training students who aren't going to be scientist anyway.
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2) using as few animals as possible.
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3) keeping the animals where they can enjoy life between being used, and where they can socialize with their own kind & with people.
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4) providing pain killers, and stress relievers, so the animals is harmed as little as possible.
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5) providing happy pills for the animals in the cages as an option.
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6) Retiring the animal after one use.
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7) marking the animals with permanent I.D. so that they same animal is not used twice!!!!
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8) only using animals that can be retired to homes, or to a company retirement home for lab animals, or who will be promptly and humanely euthanized.
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Even when animals are employed as 'lab rats' (experimental subjects) there is no reason to tolerate cruelty.
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Although the animals are lesser on the company totem pole, they are still company employees.
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Use without Abuse, or no use at all.
