The Vacanti mouse was a

laboratory mouse The laboratory mouse or lab mouse is a small mammal of the order Rodentia which is bred and used for scientific research or feeders for certain pets. Laboratory mice are usually of the species ''Mus musculus''. They are the most commonly used ...

(circa 1996) that had what looked like a human ear grown on its back. The "ear" was actually an ear-shaped

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...

structure grown by seeding cow cartilage cells into biodegradable ear-shaped mold and then implanted under the skin of the mouse, with an external ear-shaped splint to maintain the desired shape. Then the cartilage naturally grew by itself within the restricted shape and size. The splint was removed briefly to take the publicity pictures, which is very controversial. The ''EMOUSE'', as it became known, was created by Charles A. Vacanti in the Department of Anesthesiology at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, Linda Griffith at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, and Joseph P. Vacanti in the Department of Surgery at

Children's Hospital A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th ...

. Charles Vacanti later moved to the Department of Anesthesiology at the

University of Massachusetts Medical School The University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School is a public medical school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is part of the University of Massachusetts system. It is home to three schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Grad ...

. The results were based on the works of many others who seeded cells onto scaffolds to regenerate organs. The first work with cartilage regeneration was published in 1991 in ''Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery''. The mouse used is called a

nude mouse A nude mouse is a laboratory mouse from a strain with a genetic mutation that causes a deteriorated or absent thymus, resulting in an inhibited immune system due to a greatly reduced number of T cells. The phenotype (main outward appearance) of t ...

, a commonly used strain of immunocompromised mouse, preventing a

transplant rejection Transplant rejection occurs when Organ transplant, transplanted tissue is rejected by the recipient's immune system, which destroys the transplanted tissue. Transplant rejection can be lessened by determining the molecular similitude between don ...

. The photo of the mouse was passed around the internet, mainly via email, sometimes with little to no text accompanying it leading many people to speculate whether the photo was real. In the late 1990s, the picture prompted a wave of protests against

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

—although in this specific experiment no genetic manipulation was performed. In an interview with Newsweek, Joseph Vacanti joked that the mouse had the ear removed and then "lived out a happy, normal life". However, it is standard for lab workers to kill the mice they work with, and the original paper they published mentions the state of the mice "after sacrifice". "Sacrifice" means lab workers killed them.

References

External links

* {{cite news, last1=Hugo, first1=Kristin, title=Remember the lab mouse with a human ear on its back? The scientist accused of "playing God" explains his work, url=http://www.newsweek.com/tissue-surgeon-ear-mouse-human-organs-transplant-cell-phones-666082, access-date=May 10, 2018, work=Newsweek, date=September 16, 2017, language=en Internet memes House mouse Individual mice Individual animals in the United States