A new study by Japanese researchers involving genetically engineered mice may have altered our understanding of the nature of fear itself.
Scientists at Tokyo University have successfully created mice that show no fear of felines by “switching off” a mouse’s instinct to cower at the presence of cats. This unique experiment showed that fear is genetically hardwired into the mice, disproving claims that fear is entirely learned through experience as commonly believed.
The Japanese researchers achieve this “switching off” a mice’s instinctive fear of felines by removing certain nasal cells with genetic engineering. In the experiment, the genetically engineered mice approached cats, snuggled and even played with them. Of course, scientists only chose docile and domesticated cats for the experiment.
With this new understanding into the world of “fear”, scientists are beginning to shed new light on genes possibly affecting how other mammals like us behave. In the future, new applications of genetic engineering could one day teach us how the brain processes information and possibly remove the “fear factor” from individuals creating humans fearless of anything and everything around them.
By: Long Le
Scientists at Tokyo University have successfully created mice that show no fear of felines by “switching off” a mouse’s instinct to cower at the presence of cats. This unique experiment showed that fear is genetically hardwired into the mice, disproving claims that fear is entirely learned through experience as commonly believed.
The Japanese researchers achieve this “switching off” a mice’s instinctive fear of felines by removing certain nasal cells with genetic engineering. In the experiment, the genetically engineered mice approached cats, snuggled and even played with them. Of course, scientists only chose docile and domesticated cats for the experiment.
With this new understanding into the world of “fear”, scientists are beginning to shed new light on genes possibly affecting how other mammals like us behave. In the future, new applications of genetic engineering could one day teach us how the brain processes information and possibly remove the “fear factor” from individuals creating humans fearless of anything and everything around them.
By: Long Le
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