Posted by Emily Farris
Scientists in Japan have genetically modified a mouse to make it "fearless;" it just marched it's cute little mouse ass right up to a cat and tried to cuddle. While it sounds like the plot for an animated Disney movie, we get the feeling this is not good news for earthlings who rely on their intuition to stay away from things like rotten food and rotten people:
[The findings show] that fear is genetically hardwired and not learned through experience, as commonly believed. Mice are naturally terrified of cats and usually panic or flee at the smell of one, research team leader Ko Kobayakawa said. But mice with certain nasal cells removed through genetic engineering didn't display any fear...The findings suggest that human aversion to dangerous smells like that of rotten food, for example, could also be genetically predetermined, he said.
[Via PR-inside.com]
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About Emily Farris
Emily Farris writes about culture and food for numerous publications and websites you've probably never heard of, including her own blog eefers. Her first cookbook will be published in fall 2008. Emily lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with her cat, but just one...so far.