The rats of Embracing Animals are named Matilda, Tara and Star. They are transgenic rats, HLAB27 transgenic rats to be precise, exhibiting a phenotype similar to humans suffering B27 related rheumatic disorders.

They have been microinjected with human DNA that sets them up for a precondition to be autoimmune challenged. They are are developed for pharmaceutical research studies and are prone to develop diseases like reactive arthritis, psoriasis inflammatory bowel disease, etc. Matilda, Tara and Star are also retired breeders, meaning they were used to give birth to baby rats that carried their added gene.

Kathy High rescued them from laboratories and is now attempting to make them live as long as possible and to see if they could become healthy given their prior genetic conditioning. She treated them with alternative medicines such as homeopathy, environmental enrichment, also good food and play. Having autoimmune problems herself, the artist can identify with the rats and feel as though they are mirroring each other. They are not pets. They are extensions, transformers, transitional combined beings that resonate with us in ways that other animals cannot.

“I am not against the kinds of scientific research that works with animals. But I do think there are other kinds of research to be conducted. We have injected human materials into them. We have a real kinship with these rats, and still they are the forgotten workers,” writes High.

Via CIAC.

The rats are on display through February 2006 at Mass MOCA as part of Becoming Animal, 13 artists investigating the shifting boundaries between animal and human.