NOT OC: ANOTHER UNUSUAL MOUSE

I have no idea what's going on here.

My last blog entry introduced the concept of “cancer stem cells”.  I have spent the day reading about them.  (My ribs hurt too much to do much else.)  As often has been the case over the past few months, I quickly found myself in over my head, trying to tread water in a deep puddle of thick, sticky biology.  I will keep trying, but I don’t expect to understand very much very soon.  Nevertheless I want to acquaint you with a creature I have just encountered.  As you know, mice are very important in cancer research.  We have previously encountered the transgenic glowing reporter mouse (blog entry for 7/9/12).  Now I have met the “sublethally irradiated nonobese diabetic severe combined immunodeficient mouse”.  Further on in the article he/she is referred to simply as a NOD/scid mouse.    All I can say is – poor little devil.  Two observations:  (1) Cancer research would be nowhere without rodents, and (2) Cancer researchers may be excellent scientists, but they show little aptitude for poetry.