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Transgenic Mice Engineered With A Human Gene For Speech
San Francisco, 11:31 PM
Wed Dec 16
24 posts in the last 24 hours
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Transgenic Mice Engineered With A Human Gene For Speech |
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05/29/09
The second mouse!
Why?
Because the second mouse gets the cheese!
Also, don't eat the green wobbly bit!
05/29/09
I'm fairly sure songbirds and even some mice have the gene. I think in this paper they inserted the fox2 gene with some hominid-specific mutations into the mice. If I'm wrong about this, please correct me.
05/29/09
05/29/09
Just wait until they can talk and read!
Isn't anybody concerned that we're one escaped mouse away from having new rodent overlords?
05/29/09
Wouldn't they technically be underlords? You know, because they're so short. Unless they rode on top of our heads, pulling our hair to drive us Ratatouille-style.
05/29/09
However, as an animal model, this is teaching us a lot about how the language suborgans in our brain grow and develop histologically.
05/29/09
does size matter in brains? ;)
05/29/09
Sorry but the "You only use 10% of your brain" meme is an urban myth and misunderstanding.
With very broad limits of course, size (or more accurately the number of brain cells) does matter in brains. For example, I remember reading somewhere that women's brains actually have slightly more brain cells than men's even though overall volume is slightly smaller.
But mice have brains that far too few brain cells in comparison to ours.
05/29/09
"Here, take hold of this spinning pie tin hooked up to a 9 volt battery. It will unlock the unused potential of your brain."
"Hey yeah! Ummm, I remember that from high school science or somewhere. How much is it?"
"Just $1399 in 5 easy payments. Sign here and get in the back of the van."
"Cool! I'm gonna be a psychic superman in time for Shelia's wedding."
05/29/09
Food. Food. Threat! Run! Not food. Not food. Food. Run. Sit. Not food. Sleep."
05/29/09
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05/29/09
Just what the world needs. A mouse that talks like Orson Welles.
05/29/09
Well, whatever they look like they'll be loved. NARF.
05/29/09
05/29/09
I feel so sad that the first thing I actually thought of was Reepicheep. Not that he's not cool and all, but he's not quite on the level of Brain.
05/29/09
(Flashbacks to Tom and Jerry movie)
05/29/09