Mice take one for the human team… again
Gone are the days of Beaver Cleaver – and apparently the days of Mickey & Minnie mouse are numbered as well.
In this new study, humans give LSD to the little rodents:
“Of course, we don’t know what the mice experience when they are treated with these drugs,” Sealfon said. “But we do know that there is a head twitch response in the mice that provides a good correlation with drugs that are known to be hallucinogenic in humans.”
So um… why are we doing this?
The Onion spoofed animal research very nicely, picturing an obesity study lab rat nestled among snickers bars and M&Ms.
And in another recent study, we gave mad cow disease to our furry friends:
“As expected… at 9 weeks of age they developed sponginess in the brain tissue, all the mice developed behavior and memory problems, for example they stopped burrowing.”
Hey, I have an idea for a new study – let’s see what mice infected with mad cow disease do if we also give them LSD?
I feel a bit sad for the tiny critters, don’t you?This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
It is tests like this, that I must agree w/ PETA. I read the study and it seems that it was a ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ study.(Use the grant money for something or lose it). I thought test done in the 70′s & 80′s proved the same thing. What were the NEW findings?
It seems the ‘little critters’ as you called them were sacrificed for nothing.
Yes, humans have no respect for the other living creatures on this planet. What I want to know is, where do they get the illegal drugs from? And if they’re illegal, why should we care what LSD does anyway?!?!
Excellent point, healthyg. Animal research is sometimes valuable and necessary, but so many of these studies seem to be sacrificing animals without a solid reason for doing so. I still remember the beagles that they had in the Mayo Clinic research facility (I did bench research in virology in a nearby lab). They’d bark and cry all night long. I just hope that they didn’t die in vain!
Thanks for the post. This study was also reported in mainstream media. The media portrayed the report in a typical Idiot American manner of total acceptance (referencing Green Day’s excellent song “Idiot America”).
There is no longer any good justification to experiment on non human animals. It is greed and the need to feel important that drives present toxicology. Epidemiology will always be far superior to toxicology.
This particular study disgusted me more than some others, because the apex of LSD research has already been achieved. Timothy Leary and many of his colleagues determined a profoundly excellent use for the drug, as can be read in his captivating book ‘Flashbacks.’ I have used LSD about a dozen times, and for me it was easy to ‘see’ the drug’s benefits and risks. I am a scientist, a truth seeker, and on my way to becoming an MD.
Leary ‘dosed’ with inmates in prisons to ethically gain the inmates’ trust and then help them ‘rewire’ their mindsets or thought processes, if you will. I suppose ‘neurolinguistic reprogramming’ is another term for this process of self improvement. LSD is not necessary to reprogram a human, of course, but it can help, ONLY with the right ‘guide.’ The wrong ‘guide’ or therapist can really confuse the person’s (in need of help) mind. Sadly, most people wouldn’t know anything about this alien concept of ‘self improvement.’ Additionally, most people would not know about ‘self experimentation,’ because most humans are happy to torture non humans for their own gain., no matter how vain the gain is (i.e. Botox uses the LD/50 test for each and every batch – sickeningly unethical).
As a vegan consumer (my three dogs are vegan too), I would certainly not pay someone to torture 100 monkeys or mice or even 1 monkey or mouse to save my mother’s life, etc. whether she was accountable or not for her condition. In addition, I would sacrifice my own life for the greater good of others. I only wish through some miracle that a few billion other humans would begin to think and act like I do.
PS and By the way, LSD generally does not cause twitches in humans. Why would these complete morons use non humans as models for humans? Greed and the desire to feel important (i.e. get published, feel famous or talked about in the media, etc.). Pathetic.
If anyone is interested in reading more about how twisted our present society is, please read the following in this order:
Kevin Trudeau’s books “Natural Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About,” http://www.PETA.org, http://www.uscusa.org, http://www.HSUS.org, Robert Anton Wilson, Timothy Leary,
truly sickening, why not use the research already done by LEARY & his HARVARD pals. and test on severly willing deprssed people though research has already proven that individuals who’ve experienced psychotic breaks shouldn’t use these drugs. nothing short of sickening.