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"Super Mice" created by gene splicing
Scientists at Case Western Reserve University have genetically engineered mice that outrun, outlive, and out-eat ordinary mice while staying lean, light, and fertile well into old age.Chalk it up to a change in a single gene. That genetic tweak boosted levels of an enzyme called PEPCK-C in the mice's skeletal muscles, knocking mice's muscle metabolism into orbit. "They are metabolically similar to Lance Armstrong biking up the Pyrenees," researcher Richard Hanson, PhD, says in a news release. Will they be entered in the Tour de Mouse? The mighty mice were seven times more active than normal mice. They showed unusually high levels of activity in their cages from the time they were 2 weeks old. Running on special treadmills designed for mice, the genetically engineered mice left ordinary mice in the dust. . . . A major unanswered question, Hanson's team notes, is what brain changes accompany the genetically engineered mice's hyped-up activity. "What're we gonna do tonight, Brain?" "The same thing we do every night, Pinky: try to take over the world!" "Egad, Brain, brilliant!" Posted by: Mike 2007-11-02 |
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