Mouse number six from the research of Cui et al (2003). The mouse, nicknamed ‘Mighty Mouse’ was resistant to cancer because of its own immune defences. While other mice would die within a few weeks of being injected by the deadly S180 cancer cell line, having developed massive tumours in their abdomens, Mighty Mouse was completely immune. Subsequent breeding of Mighty Mouse produced grandchildren that showed the same immunity. The natural killer cells of the mice destroyed the cancer cells before they had time to form a tumour. (Cui, Z., Willingham, M. C., Hicks, A. M., Alexander-Miller, M. A., Howard, T. D., Hawkins, G. A., Miller, M. S., Weir, H. M., Du, W. and DeLong, C. J. 2003. Spontaneous regressionod advanced cancer: identification of a unique genetically determined, age-dependent trait in mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 100(11): 6682-6687)
