Comment by Legomyeggo on Another reason why a lot of studies may be wrong · 2012-05-03T14:41:21.919Z · LW · GW

"Having unlimited access to food makes the animals prone to cancer, type-2 diabetes, and renal failure; it alters their gene expression in substantial ways; and it leads to cognitive decline."

It seems mice are affected in the same way as humans are when they overeat. Does that mean that all previous laboratory research that used mice as a trial organism is only applicable to overweight humans?

And if ~80% of research is done using mice as a viable replacement for humans, then how do we know so little about mouse health? Is it reflective of how much we know of human health?

Finally, college students across the country are fed in a extremely similar way to these mice (except they may have to walk a block or two in order to obtain food). Could research show us that we are actually making college students less intelligent due to the apparent decrease in their health from overeating? Seems backwards...