Jacob de Gheyn (II) [Public domain] via Wikimedia CommonsThere is no denying that mice have furthered our understanding of immunology. As subjects in basic immune studies, their utility is difficult to overstate. But by and large, the advances in knowledge that they have provided have not translated into clinically successful applications: many therapies that seem to cure mice of autoimmunity, cancer and infectious diseases turn out to be ineffective in humans. Mark Davis (Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA) believes that mouse studies have come as far as they can go alone, and that further progress requires a new approach that focuses on human immunology.
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