Barriers to further improvement of human cell transplantation in mice

What is it about?

This review discusses humanized mouse models – mice transplanted with human cells – and their many uses in biomedical research. The history of the development of different strains of mice that have immune deficiencies and are used to create humanized mice is reviewed. A focus of this work is on the current limitations to humanized mouse models that limit cell engraftment.

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Photo by ANIRUDH on Unsplash

Photo by ANIRUDH on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The development of new medical treatments requires animal testing before human trials. Humanized mice offer opportunities to experiment on human cells directly that are otherwise limited to work in cultures. Further advances in creating humanized mice enable such work to speed the discovery of new medical therapies.