Vacanti mouse

Rodents
Famous Individual Animals
Famous Scientific Experiments

The Vacanti mouse was a laboratory nude mouse, circa 1996, with an ear-shaped cartilage structure grown beneath the skin of its back. The structure was made by seeding cow knee cartilage cells into a biodegradable ear-shaped mold, supported externally by a splint. Created by researchers associated with Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MIT and Boston Children's Hospital, its widely circulated photograph prompted speculation and protests despite no genetic manipulation being performed.

The picture on this card was made with AI. It is an illustration, not a real photo of the subject.

Type: Laboratory nude mouse
Cartilage method: Cow cartilage cells in a biodegradable mold
Genetic manipulation: None performed in this experiment

Sources and credits

Article: Vacanti mouse (English Wikipedia)
Wikidata: Q15935631
Text: Card text is adapted from the English Wikipedia article by an automated summary. Wikipedia content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for its contributors. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Article history and contributors
Illustration: AI-generated illustration. Not a photograph or documentary image. (model: gpt-image-2.5-flare)
Popularity: 69 median daily views (Wikimedia Pageviews API (all-access, user agent))

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