On Dec 13, 7:18 am, ibshambat2...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- The age-long animosity between cat and mouse
> could be a thing of the past with genetically modified "fearless" mice
> that Japanese scientists say shed light on mammal behavior.
>
> Using genetic engineering, scientists at Tokyo University say they
> have successfully switched off the rodents' instinct to cower at the
> smell or presence of cats -- showing 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. But mice with certain nasal cells removed through
> genetic engineering didn't display any fear," said research team
> leader Ko Kobayakawa.
>
> "The mice approached the cat, even snuggled up to it and played with
> it," Kobayakawa said. "The discovery that fear is genetically
> determined and not learned after birth is very interesting, and goes
> against what was previously thought."
>
> The findings suggest that human aversion to dangerous smells like that
> of rotten food, for example, could also be genetically predetermined,
> he said.
>
> Kobayakawa said his findings, published in the science magazine Nature
> last month, should help researchers shed further light on how the
> brain processes information about the outside world.
But I thought mice were _supposed_ to fear cats,
so that they could run away and not be eaten(?)
Are these special cats?
C.
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