The Value of Mouse Models of Rare Diseases: A Spanish Experience
Abstract
Animal models are invaluable for biomedical research, especially in the context of rare diseases, which have a very low prevalence and are often complex. Concretely mouse models provide key information on rare disease mechanisms and therapeutic strategies that cannot be obtained by using only alternative methods, and greatly contribute to accelerate the development of new therapeutic options for rare diseases. Despite this, the use of experimental animals remains controversial. The combination of respectful management, ethical laws and transparency regarding animal experimentation contributes to improve society's opinion about biomedical research and positively impacts on research quality, which eventually also benefits patients. Here we present examples of current advances in preclinical research in rare diseases using mouse models, together with our perspective on future directions and challenges. ; This work was supported by a grant from the Center for Biomedical Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER) (ER18GDT761) to SM-C. Additional support came from: Multi Target and View FEDER/CM-B2017/BMD-3688 and MINECO/FEDER SAF2017-86107-R grants to SM-C and IV-N; CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya, Autonomous Government of Catalonia (2017SGR1206), and CIBERER (ACCI18-27) to AP; Miguel Servet program CPII16/00016 (Instituto de Salud Carlos III co-funded by European Social Fund ESF) to SF; CNIC (ISCIII, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades), Pro CNIC Foundation, Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505) to BI and EO; Generalitat de Catalunya (Grups consolidats 2017 SGR 926) to MD. EO was beneficiary of a grant from "Programa de Atracción de Talento" of Comunidad de Madrid (2017-T1/BMD-5185). SM-C holds a ISCiii CIBER postdoctoral researcher contract. The work at CRG was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to the EMBL partnership, the Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa and the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya. ; Sí
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