As a 16-year-old boy looked closely at a mouse, it ran around an enclosed area in a laboratory. “Hi, Jakob 1. I’m Jake.”
Jake Litvag named the mouse, but they share more than just names. Scientists genetically engineered(基因改造) Jakob, the mouse, to be similar to Jake in one important genetic way. That mouse and its relatives are the first in the world to have the same missing gene that scientists say may cause Jake’s condition—autism(自闭症).
Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis raised the mice from stem cells(干细胞) that came from Jake’s blood. They wanted to study his condition. Jake’s parents, Joe and Lisa Litvag, visited the laboratory back in December 2021. They thought that meeting the scientists and the mice would help Jake understand his important part in the research. He now considers autism something to be proud of rather than something that makes him different from others.
“Oh wow. Cool!” Jake said as he watched the research mice. Walking out of the lab, Lisa Litvag cried as she thought about her son’s cells helping others. After meeting the mice, the family visited another lab, where Jake looked through a microscope at his own stem cells. “That’s me! That’s cool stuff. I never saw anything like that in my life,” Jake said, as his dad pulled him close.
Jake’s father Joe Litvag said that he and his family are “deeply proud” to be part of the research. He added, “What do we live this life for? It’s to try to—in one way, shape or form—be of service to others.”
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