This reminds me of the time I spent at the NIH conducting research on cancer vaccines. After lots of trial and error, I had finally found something that seemed to prevent lung cancer in mice. I rushed to show my PI the results. He listened intently and asked thoughtful questions. Once I finished, I asked if the findings would be worthy of submitting to Nature.
He looked me straight in the eye and said, “I wouldn’t publish this anywhere, we still have work to do.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If Nature published every article that purported to cure a human disease based on a mouse model, then I would be next in line for the Nobel Prize,” he replied.
Harsh but true. The challenge of curing human disease cannot be replicated in animal models. At least not yet.
He looked me straight in the eye and said, “I wouldn’t publish this anywhere, we still have work to do.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If Nature published every article that purported to cure a human disease based on a mouse model, then I would be next in line for the Nobel Prize,” he replied.
Harsh but true. The challenge of curing human disease cannot be replicated in animal models. At least not yet.