Image Composite from unrealitytv.co.uk & nytimes.com

They won’t help you get one million dollars or assist in your quest for world-domination, but these little mice can help researchers find your cure.

The New York Times presents the story of New-Jersey based Champions Oncology and 9-year-old Michael Feeney, who suffers from Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer where tumors develop in the bone. His account with the creation of his medical “avatar”, or “Mini-Me” as Dr. Megan Sykes likes to call it, shows excellent promise as a option for cancer treatment when chances can’t be taken. Researchers have been able to biopsy the affected tissue, implant it in mice, and make a copy of the human immune system to test treatment options. Pretty neat.

Unfortunately, the treatment comes at a price – Feeney’s treatment ran up $25,500, a rather large amount that won’t ever be covered by insurance. Still, it is a small price to pay for such personalized treatment.

Give the NYT article a read and figure out more about this exciting treatment option for those who need it most. Using mice for research isn’t new, but having a little mouse running around with Phil DNA, well…actually, it would probably just end up like one of these.

Source: New York Times, via The Verge