Going ham: Researchers make hamsters aggressive through gene manipulation

Georgia State University used the DNA-splicing tool CRISPR to eliminate the genetic receptor that researchers previously knew affected the regulation of social behavior known as Avpr1a. This receptor controls vasopressin action, and its removal results in hamsters that are more socially communicative and aggressive.

"We were really surprised at the results," Regents’ Professor of Neuroscience H. Elliott Albers said in a release last week."We anticipated that if we eliminated vasopressin activity, we would reduce both aggression and social communication. But the opposite happened."Researchers manipulated nine male hamsters and eight female hamsters with this genome and saw that both groups demonstrated an increase in communication and aggression.

"Their stress response is more like that of humans than it is other rodents. They release the stress hormone cortisol, just as humans do," Associate Director of the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University Kim Huhman said in the release."They also get many of the cancers that humans get. Their susceptibility to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 makes them the rodent species of choice because they are vulnerable to it just as we are.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Madonna 'speechless' as she's banned from going live on InstagramMadonna, 63, joked about wearing a lot of clothes after discovering Instagram temporarily blocked her from going live on the social media platform
Source: Mirror Celeb - 🏆 476. / 51 Read more »

Britney Spears Says She’s ‘Definitely Going Through Something’ After Pregnancy LossBritney Spears shares the healing power of music as she navigates a difficult chapter in her life after her pregnancy loss.
Source: billboard - 🏆 112. / 63 Read more »

Philly schools going back to universal masking Monday“As we’ve learned since the pandemic began, the coronavirus continues to evolve and so too will our response to it,” Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said.
Source: PhillyInquirer - 🏆 81. / 68 Read more »

Watch Madonna find out she’s blocked from going live on Instagram“It may have been a delayed reaction to my NFTs,” the singer said, noting she hasn’t been given a reason as to why she was blocked from going live on the app.
Source: PageSix - 🏆 320. / 59 Read more »

Millions More Kids Going Hungry Since GOP, Manchin Killed Expanded Child Tax Credit'Even brief disruptions in access to food can have lasting consequences,' wrote JuliaRaifman and AllisonBovell in a new analysis of worsening hunger among U.S. families.
Source: commondreams - 🏆 530. / 51 Read more »