Perfect for an educational tool, or a odd cuddle, GIANTMicrobes are stuffed animals that mimic their actual, real life, tiny microbes.
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To the left is the photo of the actual microbe that causes Mad Cow Disease, and to the right is the GIANTMicrobe Original 5"-7" plush doll ($8.95) and beneath is is the GIANTMicrobe Petri Dish with 3 mini microbes
($12.95).
When I received it in the mail, I thought it was WAY cuter than the picture shows. Just an FYI, the cow patterns vary from one to the other, so don't expect the spots to be the same. What you can't tell from the picture on the website, is that the Mad Cow microbe has a bumpy spine on one edge that adds a different look, it's not a long tube shape.
Both of my daughters got a kick out of it and thought it was too funny that it looks like a cow (but doesn't look like a cow at the same time, Mom!)
It's made from new material with a polyester fiber fill. You can surface wash it only, simply sponge with a mixture of warm water and mild soap and allow to air dry. Brush it when it's dry to restore the fabric. The stitching on it is tight and the eyes seem secure. I think it's really well made.
I was able to let the girls play with it, feel the bumpy spine and giggle about "mad" cows while I explained how eating the wrong kind of meat can make us ill and that cows aren't really supposed to be fed the corn that a lot of farmers feed them. Our oldest knew that cows love to eat grass, and her little sister said they should drink water to wash it down :) They probably didn't understand ALL of it, which is fine by me, we'll come back to again in the future I'm sure of it.
We didn't go vegan, we're just making smarter choices when it comes to meat.
This is Lily, our youngest.. making her "Mad Cow Face!"
It's important for me to keep what I tell my children age appropriate so I left it at the farmers giving the cows the wrong food, and in turn, it makes the animals behavior mad/crazy.
For a more in-depth explanation, the card that comes with the Mad Cow GIANTMicrobe details
The facts about Mad Cow:
First identified in Britian in the mid-1980's, Mad Cow disease, or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), is generally thought to be the work of proteinaceous infectious particles, or prions. These inanimate amino acid chains (which are far smaller than bacteria or viruses, and are not destroyed by thorough cooking) normally twist like pretzels into a particular shape. According to theory, they can get a little crazy and twist the wrong way. Similar proteins follow the herd, go nuts as well, and congeal into long rods that ultimately inhibit brain functions. (Other prion diseases include sheep-disease scrapie; Kuru, once found in the cannibals of Papua-New Guinea; and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a variant of which is believed to be Mad Cow in humans.)
Although Mad Cow prions are typically found in brains and spinal tissues, and are thought to be transmissible primarily by direct consumptions, even cows and humans without a predilection for consuming nervous tissues are at risk: at processing plants, these materials can end up both in cattle feed and on your sirloin steak. (In fact, cattle feed contaminated with scrapie-infected sheep tissue is credited with spreading ovine prions into the bovine population.)
With an up-to-decades-long latency period, no cure, no treatment, and no chance of recovery, concern about BSE is no bull. Nevertheless, the risk of infection is extremely low. Strenuous efforts are being made to prevent the spread of Mad Cow, including the implementation of strict animal feed regulations and processing standards. So beef-eaters are hardly insane to keep eating - though that may make cows even madder...
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We'll be hosting a GIANTMicrobes Giveaway soon! I'll be announcing it on our Facebook Fan Page and Twitter! One lucky winner will get to pick out the very own GIANTMicrobe Original Size..which ever one you want!
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*Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for a review. I was not paid for my honest opinion.
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