MICE AND RATS ARE THE most common animals used in laboratory experiments. Tens, if not hundreds of millions of them lose their lives every year in the U.S. alone, in the name of science. This monument in central Russia commemorates these brave rodents, who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the advancement of mankind. The Monument to the Laboratory Mouse can be found in a courtyard at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Akademgorodok, Russia, a research facility associated with Novosibirsk State University that seeks to better understand the nature of DNA. The mighty mouse is of the anthropomorphic variety, with glasses, dressed in a lab coat, and studiously knitting a DNA double helix.
