Designer Mice Made to Order

blackbearnh writes "CNN is reporting about the world of designer mice. No, not the kind you click, the kind that scamper around and eat cheese. An effort is underway to produce mice with each of the 20-25,000 individual mouse genes "knocked out", which could lead to novel new treatments for humans. It turns out that after fully sequencing the mouse genome, the little fellas are almost identical to humans. From the article: 'A mouse with arthritis runs close to $200; two pairs of epileptic mice can cost 10 times that. You want three blind mice? That'll run you about $250. And for your own custom mouse, with the genetic modification of your choosing, expect to pay as much as $100,000.'"

would you?

[dotpavan]

A mouse with arthritis runs close to $200; two pairs of epileptic mice can cost 10 times that. You want three blind mice? That'll run you about $250. And for your own custom mouse, with the genetic modification of your choosing, expect to pay as much as $100,000.'"

Oh, and Would you like to have fries with it?

Laser Mouse?

[compuguy84]

...Priceless...

Re:You've got to be kidding me?

[jcostantino]

It's probably for scientific research... I seriously doubt that someone would buy mutant mice for fun.. well, unless they had frickin' laser pointers on their heads.

Hmmm... that's an idea...

[thanq]

How much for a pair of fast, reliable, self-sustaining mice that can keep my cats exercising and entertained each day so I don't have to?

Obj HHGttG Reference

[blackbearnh]

Oh, those clever mice, letting their genes be manipulated, mysteriously developing arthritis, glowing in the dark.

Leopard Skin

[Jozer99]

How about a mouse in a leopard skin print to match my decour?

Profit!

[cowboy76Spain]

1. Catch three normal mice somewhere
2. !!!!!!
3. Sell three blind mice for $250
4. Profit!

Wistful thinking

[jaymzter]

Work with me here.. A mouse with laser beams for eyes!! And he flies, and with super strength shall lay the capitals of the world to waste! I shall call him.. MIGHTY MOUSE!!

Unless you pay me the sum of One Million Dollars!!

How much....

[mblase]

...for a superintelligent white mouse [amazon.com]? I want to be able to create my own three-dimensional sculpture with a living element before those things go out of style.

Re:Hmmm... that's an idea...

[superdan2k]

Probably not a cost effective idea. Really, once the cats start approaching some semblence of "shape", the mice will need to be replaced on a daily basis. Furthermore, the cats will need more exercise to work off the mouse calories.

Re: Designer Mice Made to Order

[JeanBaptiste]

Can you make them with the cheese already inside?

That would really save me a lot of trouble...

I prefer Mozzerella.

Thanks in advance.

Intelligent Design

[RedHatLinux]

Does this count as intelligent design?

Re:Hmmm... that's an idea...

[LiquidCoooled]

1) Goto petshop and purchase a mating pair.

2) Release into basement.

3) ???

4) Profit (well, not losing money getting some super mouse built to order)!

Re:No more concern about endangered species?

[Golias]

If today's california condor isn't well suited in the modern environment; wouldn't it be better to grow better ones more able to survive?

No, you fool! If you do that, NOTHING will stop them! We'd be doooooomed!!!

Re:would you?

[Lev13than]

To: Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME
Re: Genetically modified mice

Dear Sir,

I understand that you are in the business of breeding custom-designed mice. I find this quite fascinating, as I require custom animals for my experiments. Do you, by chance, have any specimens which are flexible, clawless and agoraphobic?

Regards,
R. Gere

Designer mice?

[njchick]

I want a Christian Dior mouse, with pink floral ornament and letters "CD" on the belly.

Re:You've got to be kidding me?

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, it was the "oh so cute" comment that gave it away. Somehow I suspect that anyone paying for a mouse with diabetes is probably more concerned about diabetes than "cute".

Although obese mice are pretty darn cute. Pic. [wisc.edu] More. [google.com]

Re:Uhmmm....

[Saven Marek]

Apparently it's not a problem, as one of the differences with mice and people is they don't feel pain, so they can't notice if there's anything wrong. Also, they don't have social systems like we do so there's no stigmas attached to their disabilities so if they're OK with it as mice I don't see what the problem is?

Re:special mice ... really special

[Dr Caleb]

"can chew through the aluminium siding, rip arms and legs off with their paws, and can run 100 yards in 10 seconds?"

With that kind of mouse, you'll have to replace your cat more often. Not to mention walls, fences and your neighbours' Volvo.

Re:Uhmmm....

[TheNarrator]

The best reason of all to experiment on mice though is to get back at them for the spreading (via fleas) the 13th century Black Death plague that led to over a 3rd of Europe's population dying! Just think of the irony! They tried to eliminate us by spreading disease and we are using them for medical research!

Re:would you?

[Anonymous Coward]

I understand that you are in the business of breeding custom-designed mice. I find this quite fascinating, as I require custom animals for my experiments. Do you, by chance, have any specimens which are flexible, clawless and agoraphobic?

Just order a dozen of the epileptic ones and get some nail clippers.

dammit

[bitt3n]

here I was all excited that I could get gold-plated mouse with hand-tooled authentic leopardskin sliders, and then the article's all about curing other people's debilitating diseases

Re:would you?

[bobcat7677]

To: Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME Re: Genetically modified mice Dear Sir, I understand that you are in the business of breeding custom-designed mice. My company's activities sometimes require the use of animals with certain qualities that are getting hard to find these days. I am contacting you as our supplies of sharks and sea bass seem to have "dried up". Could you by chance produce a large quantity of ill tempered mice? We would also be interested in having laser beams attached to their little heads if you have the facilities for that. Thank you in advance, Number Two

Re:Uhmmm....

[ErikZ]

Inhumane?! Science being cold, calculating and pitiless? Say it isn't so!

Don't worry about it, when the tests are done, they cure the arthritic mice, put the anti-seizure chip in the epileptic mice, and tiny little bionic eyes in the blind mice. Then they send them to a local farm and release them in a field. Where it's nice and sunny and they can run and laugh and frolic all day long.

But usually they last about 15 minutes before an owl comes by and eviscerates it. A lot of owls hang out by that field, we're not sure why.

Re:Mouse human?

[b0r0din]

I think certain pandimensional beings would disagree with your assertion that they aren't already uber-smart.

Re:special mice ... really special

[Miaowara_Tomokato]

Rodents of Unusual Size? ...I don't believe they exist.

Gives new meaning to "Are you a Man or a Mouse!?"

[fdrebin]

Yup, this gives an entirely new meaning to the old challenge "Are you a man or a mouse?"

/F

They've got it backwards

[kjots]

No no no, you've got it all wrong! It's the mice that have genetically reprogrammed us to have arthritis, epilipsy and/or obesity! It's all part of a long running experiment to discover the true nature of the universe! The fact that the scientist think they're the ones performing the experiments just proves how ingeniously subtle the mice really are!

Could I get a mouse with Tourette Syndrome?

[HGPilot]

How much would it cost to get a mouse with Tourette Syndrome, and what would that cost me? I would love to have one of those. That would be too much fun at bars. "Calm down, dude, it wasn't me, it was my mouse."

I would!

[Roadkills-R-Us]

Yum.

But even more importantly, how much for a mouse than learns Visual Basic as its first programming language?

But what I *really* want is a USB mouse that will go where I tell it to and click itself. How much for that?

Re:No more concern about endangered species?

[dr.badass]

Well, part of the cause of the California condor's decline is humans shooting them for sport.

Obviously the solution then is to engineer condors with the ability to shoot back. I would have expected nature to come up with that one by now.

Re:special mice ... really special

[EZLeeAmused]

Yeah, but before long we'll have the entire cat genome figured out, problem solved...then we'll need to start working on the dog genome....

Re:Isn't it more cruel or inhumane..

[drgonzo59]

Someone in my lab has a poster of some radical animal rights protesters yelling, all nakes with painted whiskers, distorted faces and all and the caption said -- saving these people from heart attack since 1992.

Re:Isn't it more cruel or inhumane..

[PitaBred]

You're absolutely right! We have to control this population explosion right now! Let's start together. You go to the cliff and jump off, I'll be right behind you. I promise.

Perhaps, then..

[Inoshiro]

we should breed cats who can DDR.

Re:Perhaps, then..

[I Like Pudding]

we should breed cats who can DDR.

They already can, but think they're too cool for it.