{"id":2089,"date":"2019-10-16T13:49:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T17:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=2089"},"modified":"2022-03-09T09:41:59","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T13:41:59","slug":"tests-on-mice-why-we-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/tests-on-mice-why-we-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Tests on Mice: Why Health Researchers Use Rodents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why do we test on mice and other rodents? Are the results from research using rats and mice really applicable to humans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may not like it, but we’re closely related to mice, and research results from tests on mice and other rodents can tell us a lot about our own biology and how we respond to things like carcinogens. We’ll cover why research on mice is applicable to us and look at some examples of tests on mice that tell us about cancer risk factors for humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Tests on Mice and Their Applicability to Humans<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many studies are done with rodents, particularly animal testing on rats. How do we know the results apply to us?
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We can look at the similarities between rats and humans to know how transferable these principles really are.
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Commonalities Between Rats and Humans:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. Rats and humans both need protein for the same bodily processes.
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2. The ways in which protein is used in the body are virtually the same in rats and humans.
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3. Humans consume the same percentage of protein as that shown to cause tumor growth in rats.
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4. In both rats and humans, the promotion stage is far more critical than the initiation stage in the development of cancer.
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Tests on Mice and Rodents Teach Us About Cancer in Humans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Indian Animal Testing on Rats and Liver Cancer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One research study out of India involved two groups of rats. Both groups were administered the carcinogen aflatoxin. 
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Group 1 ate a diet that was 20% protein (roughly the percentage of protein in the average Western diet<\/a>).
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Group 2 ate a diet that was 5% protein.
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Shockingly, every<\/em><\/strong> rat eating a 20% protein diet showed evidence of liver cancer and <\/strong>none<\/em><\/strong> of the rats eating a 5% protein diet showed evidence of liver cancer.<\/strong>
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A researcher not involved with the study, T. Colin Campbell, was struck by how these findings clarified his hypothesis that protein consumption in the Philippines was somehow related to childhood liver cancer. He couldn’t be sure that the results of the animal testing on rats were applicable to people, but he could see a link.
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Campbell’s Rat Study<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Curious, Campbell decided to do his own study with rats. (He would eventually study the effect of protein consumption on cancer risk in human subjects.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his studies, in which rats were administered the aflatoxin (AF), researchers confirmed and deepened the findings of the Indian study. Campbell found that animal-protein consumption increased the risk of various cancers (including liver, pancreatic, and breast) at different stages of the cancer\u2019s development.<\/strong> The results remained consistent when the rats were dosed with other carcinogens, such as hepatitis B, indicating that animal proteins may open the door for multiple types of carcinogens (cancer-causing substances).
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Research on Protein in the Initiation Stage of Cancer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Through various studies, Campbell and his researchers found that low-protein diets can do the following at the first stage of cancer development<\/a>:
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