Mice could be used to make a range of human proteins that are useful in fighting cancer and auto-immune diseases and infections (caused by the body's abnormal reaction to some of its own tissues leading to production of antibodies against them). Geneticists at the Kirin Brewery Technology Laboratory, Yokohama, have made mice whose cells contain whole human chromosomes along with their own DNA. The news has taken scientists across the world by surprise. Such large chunks of human genetic material have never been put into mice before. Moreover, no ill effects have been noticed in the animals. The human chromosomes have functioned normally in the mice. Mice or other animals might someday be engineered to mass-produce several therapeutic products including antibodies, says Howard Petrie of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. He described the news as 'stunning'. Scientists across the world believe this would give a fillip to research on genes that cause inherited diseases.
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