MONUMENT TO LABORATORY MICE

Now that we are still living through this pandemic and vaccines are reaching the entire population, I can’t help but think about guinea pigs and laboratory rats, about the experiments carried out on all kinds of animals. And when I think about them, a curious Russian monument dedicated to laboratory mice comes to mind.

The sculpture is located at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Russia. It was inaugurated on July 1, 2013, coinciding with the city’s 120th anniversary. It depicts a giant mouse wearing glasses on its nose, knitting a DNA chain with two knitting needles. And for some reason, whenever I think about a DNA chain, I remember Jurassic Park… This sculpture is a tribute, or rather, a symbol of gratitude to all the animals that have endured all sorts of cruelties in the name of science.

The mouse sculpture is about 70 centimeters tall, but when you include the pedestal, its total height reaches 2.5 meters. It’s fascinating to see how this Russian institute has celebrated the lives of these animals.

The design is the work of Andrew Kharkevich, who comments on his sculpture, “It combines the image of a laboratory mouse and a scientist. The mouse is captured at the moment of scientific discovery. If you look into its eyes, you can see that this little mouse has achieved something. But the full symphony of scientific discoveries, the joy of ‘Eureka,’ has not yet manifested.” However, the sculptor is Alexei Agrikolyansky, who admits the difficulty of giving human features to a mouse.