Breakthroughs in Bioscience
This series brings forth essays that illustrate recent breakthroughs in biomedical research and their importance to society. It also highlights the important role animal models play in biomedical research and discovery.
Hard copies of the Breakthroughs in Bioscience series are available upon request. Please include the desired article, quantity and purpose for the publication's use with your inquiry.
Life's Blood: Angiogenesis in Health and Disease Angiogenesis, or the formation of new blood vessels, plays a critical role in a number of diseases and conditions, including cancer, diabetic retinopathy, and wound healing. Decades of basic research discovery, from studying blood vessels through the thin membrane of a rabbit's ear to detailing the mechanism of how human blood vessels are formed, have contributed to a wide range of modern day therapies, based on increasing or decreasing angiogenesis.
Magic Bullets and Monoclonals: An Antibody Tale This article describes the century of fundamental immunology research that led to today’s cutting edge monoclonal antibody therapies, used to treat millions of patients for several types of cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, and infectious disease.
Bone Builders: The Science of Grafts, Biomaterials, and Bone Engineering Every year, more than 800,000 people in the United States receive bone biomaterials, including bone grafts and bone graft substitutes. Bone is the most commonly transplanted tissue after blood transfusions. Unlike most tissues, bone is able to regenerate and reform without scarring, given the proper conditions and materials. Researchers and scientists have learned to exploit this property over many centuries to create modern day bone grafts and bone biomaterials used as substitutes for bone grafts.
Building Electronic Bridges to Bionics: The Basic Science of Neural Prosthetics Animal models, including rabbits, cats, and frogs, were vital to discoveries that led to the development of neural prosthetics such as the cochlear implant. Laboratory animals still play an important role in biomedical research, allowing researchers to study how cells and tissues interact inside the body or how disease affects living systems.
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Viruses, Cancer Warts and All: The HPV Vaccine for Cervical Cancer: Scientist Peyton Rous used Plymouth Rock chickens to make his Nobel Prize winning discovery that viruses can cause cancer. Chickens, rabbits, and mice were among the animal models that made invaluable contributions to the development of the HPV vaccine to protect against cervical cancer.
Breathtaking Discoveries: How Basic Research Led to Treatments for Asthma A number of animal models have played an invaluable part in key discoveries related to asthma. Experiments involving species as diverse as jellyfish, guinea pigs, and dogs have all shed light on the allergic response that is now known to play a role in asthma.
Science, Serotonin, and Sadness: The Biology of Antidepressants As with many biomedical research discoveries, animal models played a critical role in helping scientists to understand the biology underlying disease. Julius Axelrod used laboratory rats and cats as models in his experiments which elucidated how neurotransmitter reuptake worked.
Breast Cancer, Tamoxifen and Beyond: Estrogen and Estrogen Receptors Sheep and chickens prove important in breast cancer research. Ewes and hens served as crucial animal models in early studies to understand how estrogen worked and how it affected breast tumor development.
Clot Busters! - Discovery of Thrombolytic Therapy for Heart & Stroke The venom from a Malaysian pit viper contains an anticolagulant drug which is being studied for use in treating stroke patients. This drug improves blood flow by reducing the amount of fibrinogen ( clotting protein) in the blood plasma. The saliva from vampire bats serves as the basis for a new candidate for a thrombolytic therapeutic.
Bubbles, Babies and Biology: The Story of Surfactant Pregnant ewes and premature lambs served as crucial animal models in early studies of using steroid treatment to prevent Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS).
From Viper’s Venom to Drug Design: Treating Hypertension In the development of drugs to treat high blood pressure, dogs and rabbits helped scientists understand how the body controls blood pressure. In addition, ACE inhibitors (an anti-hypertensive) were designed based on experiments with snake venom.
Genetic Research: Mining for Medical Treasures FASEB J. 2003;17:787E "Knock-out" mice, in which specific genes have been inactivated, have been tremendously useful in helping researchers understand the genetic basis of disease. Moreover, "knock out" mice also serve as animal models for human diseases, allowing researchers to develop treatments and diagnostic tests for genetic diseases.
New Weapons to Combat an Ancient Disease: Treating Diabetes FASEB J (November 2002) 16:1853 The discovery that insulin could be used to treat diabetes was made using dogs as models for what was, at that time, a fatal condition. Mouse models are currently being used in the ongoing effort to understand and treat type II diabetes.
Transplantation: The Challenging Road Ahead Using experiments involving mice, scientists developed methods for re-educating the immune system to tolerate organ transplants. Additionally, rabbits serve as critical models for techniques related to corneal transplants, now a common place medical procedure.
Targeting Leukemia: From Bench to Bedside FASEB J. (March 2002) 16: 273 As researchers discovered effective treatments for leukemia, there remained a stumbling block: the drugs that killed leukemia cells were unable to penetrate into the brain and spinal cord. Fortunately, using animal models, scientists were able to develop a direct injection and irradiation protocol that eliminated this problem.
Bone Builders: The Discoveries Behind Preventing and Treating Osteoporosis FASEB J. (August 2001) 15: 1677 The discoveries that led to creating of drugs to treat osteoporosis came out of multiple animal studies, including those involving cows, rats and dogs.
Making Anesthesia Safer: Unraveling the Malignant Hyperthermia Puzzle The causes and prevention of malignant hyperthermia, a violent and sometimes deadly reaction to anesthesia, were discovered with help from pigs, who served as perfect models for this sudden onset condition.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging: From Atomic Physics to Visualization, Understanding and Treatment of Brain Disorders
MRI is now an invaluable, noninvasive tool in the diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders. Researchers learned how to refine and interpret MRI images based on work done with animal models.
Helicobacter pylori and Ulcers: A Paradigm Revised
While investigating the relationship between the bacteria H. pylori and stomach ulcers, researchers were able to create mouse models of related gastrointestinal diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease or Crohn’s syndrome. These models offer a way for scientists and physicians to test potential new treatments, as well as assisting them in understanding the underlying biology of these devastating illnesses.
Be sure to check out these additional titles in the Breakthrough series, to learn more about how basic bench research and animal models lead to medical advancements: