In the UK, almost half of the public believes that some animal research goes on without an official licence. The situation is similar in the US. This ignorance finds its way to policy makers around the world who dismiss academics and deride science. Clearly, there is a profound imbalance in the knowledge available to scientists and to the rest of society about animal research. Read more
Again, we’re behind on blogging – you guys are keeping us busy with great neuroscience – but here is the story of a pair of papers that appeared back to back in last week’s issue and a continuation of the discussion started here by Noah about the process of joint publication. The two papers by Tobias Boeckers and colleagues and by Eunjoon Kim and colleagues were independently submitted and both describe autism-like phenotypes of mice with mutations in the gene Shank2. In human studies, SHANK2 has been associated with rare cases of autism and these two mice add to the ever-growing list of rodents (according to SFARI.org, 17 rodent models debuted in 2011 alone) that are being created to investigate the functional consequences of genetic mutations linked to autism, in the hopes of understanding mechanisms underlying core symptoms. Shank2 is a scaffolding protein that regulates excitatory synapse function by holding together various molecules such as neurotransmitter receptors and signaling proteins. Mutations in another member of the same gene family, SHANK3, are also associated with human autism, and mutant mice display behaviors reminiscent of ASD symptoms, such as social deficits and obsessive behavior. So this protein family, and more generally, glutamatergic transmission, is potentially one promising line of investigation. Read more
September’s Editorial praises the new research that more genetic rodent models will enable. However, manipulating important genes in a mouse is not enough. Experimental techniques are also needed. Perhaps nowhere is this more important—and more difficult—than using animals to assess neuropsychiatric diseases. While much can be learned on the level of brain and cell physiology, behavioral tests are important to assess which aspects of physiology are most likely to matter. It’s the behavioral symptoms, not the cell-based ones, that directly affect people’s lives. How useful would a drug be if it cleared away the telltale plaques of Alzheimer’s patients but did nothing to preserve their memories? Read more
