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China builds monument to the unknown mouse
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-08 15:48
Most countries honour their war dead, but China has erected a monument for a
little thought of but altogether more cuddly martyr -- the mice, guinea pigs,
rabbits and monkeys who gave their lives to science.
Most countries honour their war
dead, but China has erected a monument for a little thought of but
altogether more cuddly martyr -- the mice, guinea pigs, rabbits and
monkeys who gave their lives to
science. [Reuters] |
Far from
basking in the glory of scientific achievement after making strides with a
potential SARS vaccine, Chinese researchers had taken time to commemorate the
furry martyrs who paved the way for safe human testing, the official Xinhua news
agency said.
Yin Weiping, chief of the SARS vaccine development programme, said animal
testing had been vital in developing the vaccine, which has passed the first
stage of human trials.
Accordingly, the Chinese Academy of Medical Science had been graced with a
monument to the fallen animals.
It did not give details of the monument or say where it was.
Wuhan University, in the central China province of Hubei, erected a similar
monument in September in honour of 38 rhesus monkeys that died in another SARS
research programme, Xinhua said.
The civet cat, the brown, furry, weasel-like animal that experts say was the
source of the SARS epidemic that has killed some 800 since it emerged in 2002,
has not been so exalted.
But the creatures received a reprieve of another sort last month when the
government banned the cooking and selling of the cats, which are considered a
delicacy in the south.
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