[国际新闻] 基因工程让老鼠得精神分裂症

日月光

新华社电
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  Q1 i2 f, j% w6 ?* `- s& ~美国科学家培育出世界上首只患有精神分裂症的老鼠。
2 K( i6 ~* h6 a- m7 @; V6 r这一研究有望帮助人们更好了解精神分裂症的发病机理。这是人类首次通过基因手段使动物患上精神疾病，此前动物一般被用于心脏病等生理疾病的研究。
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- k" g2 O: u7 _- }8 n人在德国 社区报道说，研究人员通过基因工程，把那只老鼠的脱氧核糖核酸（ＤＮＡ）“改造”成类似于一种与精神分裂症相关的家族性突变基因。
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; P" n( s2 t- w研究人员选择老鼠入手，是因为老鼠的一些行为方式与人类的精神分裂症状有相似之处，如“抑郁”或“躁动”等。
$ \+ J" G! I. I* }$ U" I* s人在德国 社区美国约翰斯·霍普金斯大学的研究人员日置田隆俊（音译）说，这只“疯狂老鼠”可能为人类研究精神分裂症等精神疾病提供“新的重要工具”。
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July 29, 20077 w% k1 f! e( |# r( @- B

9 F  l/ i/ ?/ q1 p: GScientists breed world’s first mentally ill mouse
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SCIENTISTS have created the world’s first schizophrenic mice in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the illness.
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It is believed to be the first time an animal has been genetically engineered to have a mental illness. Until now they have been bred only for research into physical conditions such as heart disease. It will allow researchers to study the disease and develop treatments using a limitless supply of laboratory animals.人在德国 社区9 @# u0 ]9 c4 P* f5 A
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Animal rights campaigners have condemned the research, saying that it is morally repugnant to create an animal doomed to mental suffering.0 e  E% J9 C& I4 g

, y! d4 j7 \, X, Z# m2 F5 |The mice were created by modifying their DNA to mimic a mutant gene first found in a Scottish family with a high incidence of schizophrenia, which affects about one in every 100 people. The mice’s brains were found to have features similar to those of humans with schizophrenia, such as depression and hyperactivity.2 _$ b, W9 o7 y2 f1 p$ {; W
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“These mutant mice may provide an important new tool for further study of the combinations of factors that underlie mental illnesses like schizophrenia and mood disorders,” said Takatoshi Hikida, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, a leading researcher.
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The egg cells of mice were genetically modified by inserting a gene associated with schizophrenia into their DNA. The eggs were fertilised and grown into viable baby mice using surrogate mothers.
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Animal Aid, a campaign group, said rodents were not a reliable way of modelling human disease.