Well I mean the physical difference is the different antigens. That's about it.

The only other one I know anything about is the Bombay Phenotype, which is when you have blood cells that have no antigens on them at all. Even O- has the base receptors that all blood cells have (H antigen) but if you have Bombay Phenotype then you don't have those either. Idk what medical issues this causes but it definitely makes it extremely hard if not impossible to get blood if you need it because you would have to get blood from someone else with that rare mutation: there is no other alternative.

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Now I finally understand this, thank you.

You could attempt "any mouse off the street", but primarily tumor xenograph models are established in SCID mice, bred and cloned for the function. SCID means they are immune deficient, otherwise the immune system of the regular mouse would likely generate antibodies to the injected cells and either reject the attempt to grow the tumor or result in poor health or even death of the "regular" mouse.

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Ok, the pain management protocol for mice gave me the warm fuzzies. At least they’re not just being tormented. I always considered animal testing only borderline ethical at the best of times, but it’s at least reassuring that their pain is managed and they’re kind of cared for.

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You probably could do any old street mouse but there are companies who produce litter after litter of genetic cloned mice so that your results are consistent and not dependent upon genetic variation. There are different mouse models, but in many cases the mice have compromised or differently engineered immune systems to mitigate immune system interference.

Typical experiments use mouse cancer cell lines so if injected into a human it would be rejected by your immune system, but there are some models of mice with humanized immune systems which are capable of acquiring human cell tumors and those cells could theoretically be transplanted into people. Usually no hazmat suits AFAIK, just typical gloves and lab coat. I am merely a synthetic organic chemist so I don't know much more detail beyond that but have learned enough about it through colleagues who go on to test the things we make

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Can you inject any mouse off the street and give it the cancer? Or are these special genetically matching mice that don't reject the injection immediately as a foreign invader?

What if you inject a human with it? Do the researchers need hazmat suits to handle these mice?

In addition to other answers, there are also genetically modified animals that make them predisposed to certain tumors.

In the US, scientists at academic institutions who use animals are required to abide by institutional guidelines as well as local and federal laws governing the care and use of animals (mostly applying to vertebrates only).

While not all animal studies translate to humans, it is important to keep in mind that all of the major breakthroughs in cancer treatment in recent decades (checkpoint blockade, CAR-T, etc) have been discovered in and developed using animal models. They also relied on basic immunology knowledge generated primarily from animal models.

Gophers of any variety can take up large swaths of territory, and are organized amongst themselves.

Rats/mice by default are the most populace and can be found pretty much everywhere, but they don't really organize amongst themselves.

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It’s been around for decades now, but i believe they’ve gotten stricter and stricter in the 21st century.

Usually, at least in the US, the institution has an internal committee, which also answers to higher ups outside the university. These internal committees usually have vets, bioethicists, other scientists who can validate that the science is clear and justified, etc. EVERYTHING has to be outlined in detail, prior to procedures, and no deviations can occur. There’s quite literally a strict rule for everything and anything you could think of. And of course, all personnel has to undergo ethics and technical trainings, online and in-person, and get certified and approved to work each protocol.

Any modifications to protocols have to written in detail, with justifications, and has to be approved prior to implementation. At my institution, there are also surprise visits where they drop in and watch you to make sure you’re following everything down to a T. And we have 24 hour animal techs and vets on call.

Animal work is not my favorite, even though I do it for certain things. And there are definitely a lot of people that prefer not to do it themselves, but the biomedical community in general does believe it is necessary. After all, medicine is where it is now because of animal research. It’s saved countless lives and extended our life expectancy by a LOT in many countries.

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