Xu Lin
Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming Yunnan 650223, China.
Dongwuxue Yanjiu. 2011 Feb;32(1):1-3. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1141.2011.01001.
The development of efficient ways to predict, prevent, diagnose and treat human diseases is of great interest to human society and is a focus of life science research. It is widely believed that all human diseases may be attributed to the interaction between genetic and environmental risk factors, and this interaction influences the genesis, course, drug response and outcome of the diseases. The most effective approach for research into human diseases is the clinical study, but this can be hampered by disease heterogeneity, marked individual differences and the difficulty in tracking the history and course of a disease. Additionally, no study should be performed on humans without preclinical assessments in non-human animals. The best strategy for research into human diseases is to use animal models that mimic the genesis, course, drug response and outcomes of human disease and where the etiology, genetic background and environmental factors can be strictly controlled, unfeasible in clinical studies of humans. However, there are many problems associated with the study of animal models for human disease, some of which are based on misunderstanding. For this special issue of Zoological Research we discuss these problems and misunderstandings.
开发预测、预防、诊断和治疗人类疾病的有效方法，对人类社会至关重要，也是生命科学研究的重点。人们普遍认为，所有人类疾病都可能归因于遗传和环境风险因素之间的相互作用，而这种相互作用会影响疾病的发生、发展过程、药物反应和转归。研究人类疾病最有效的方法是临床研究，但疾病的异质性、显著的个体差异以及追踪疾病病史和病程的困难，可能会阻碍临床研究。此外，在对非人类动物进行临床前评估之前，不应在人类身上进行任何研究。研究人类疾病的最佳策略是使用能够模拟人类疾病发生、发展过程、药物反应和转归的动物模型，且这些模型的病因、遗传背景和环境因素能够得到严格控制，这在人类临床研究中是不可行的。然而，人类疾病动物模型的研究存在许多问题，其中一些是基于误解。在本期《动物学研究》特刊中，我们将讨论这些问题和误解。
