digg

Facebook Connect Join Digg About

Japanese Scientists Create Mice With No Fear of Cats

guardian.co.uk — The Tokyo University professor has just unveiled mutant mice that have lost their innate fear of cats. Rather than flee or freeze when confronted with their feline enemy, the mice sniffed and even played with them, blissfully unaware of the potential dangers.

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 13, 2007

Digg DudeWhat is Digg?

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. Digg surfaces the best stuff as submitted and voted on by the community. Take the Tour to learn more.

158 Comments

show profanity settings
expand all
  • Icetype, on 12/13/2007, -1/+53Now if only scientists could create digg users with no fear of women.
  • iching, on 12/13/2007, -2/+51I think they could use this on the Democratic Leadership
  • MeMongo, on 12/13/2007, -1/+39I think that even these new fearless mice would be afraid of a glow-in-the-dark cat:
    http://digg.com/general_sciences/Scientists_create ...
  • TypeEE, on 12/13/2007, -1/+34To create CIA agents that would be fearless on any type of tortures( especially waterboarding) when captured by our enemies
  • thespudmall, on 12/13/2007, -2/+33My cat is pleased with this research.
  • Eupatorus, on 12/13/2007, -9/+38The purpose of this is....?
  • capiCrimm, on 12/13/2007, -1/+26why not just use emo kids, they'd enjoy it?
  • postitnote, on 12/13/2007, -1/+17We do what we must, because we can.
  • Jelfish, on 12/13/2007, -0/+16"The potential applications of this are frightening"

    Don't worry. They'll come up with a way to suppress fears of potential applications.
  • insanebrain, on 12/13/2007, -2/+16- "Atheists not afraid of religion."
    afraid ?? hahahahahahhahahahahaha
  • jkbowman, on 12/13/2007, -2/+15The potential applications of this are frightening.
  • dunderballer, on 12/13/2007, -2/+14have you spent money on things other than trying to cure cancer?
  • RyomaNagare, on 12/13/2007, -0/+10So by now mice, are stronger, faster immune to Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cancer and diabetes, and NOW THEY ARE ALSO FEARLESS?

    We are doomed.
  • DrunkenDevil, on 12/13/2007, -1/+11To someday apply this to humans so we wont be afraid of cats.
  • cusoman, on 12/13/2007, -5/+13Sweet, maybe this will pave the way for new breeds of humans:

    Christians not afraid of gays.
    Atheists not afraid of religion.
    Americans not afraid of change.

    The list goes on...
  • norbiu, on 12/13/2007, -2/+10We're not afraid ... we just don't give a *****.
  • inactive, on 12/13/2007, -1/+8Congrats japan on making retarded mice that no longer know to run away from cats. And if they escape and breed in the wild then what?
  • WiseWeasel, on 12/13/2007, -0/+6There's a genetic variant that won't be around for long...
  • Yggdrasil03, on 12/13/2007, -1/+7Then they get eaten. Natural selection will make sure that fearless mice no not exist in the wild.
  • Cryoniq, on 12/13/2007, -0/+6Aye.. this could present a problem. Cats will become fat and thus terrible breath.. (I hate myself for pointing it out...)
  • mrkmrk, on 12/13/2007, -1/+7No, they're fundamentally different. Science relies on experimenting and collecting data, then making conclusions, while religion relies on believing something regardless of or in spite of any experiments (ie: faith). You can try and be apologetic, but that's simply how the world works.
  • Chewie67, on 12/13/2007, -9/+15...and still no cure for cancer.

    Time & Money well spent.
  • MisterNick21, on 12/13/2007, -3/+9So let me get this strait... A bunch of Japanese scientists that didn't fear cats created mice? How did they make the mice?
  • rush378, on 12/14/2007, -0/+5They found that fear can come from genetics. Are you seriously asking that?
  • Niddik, on 12/13/2007, -6/+11LOL

    Science and religion are enemies only because people like you make them so.
  • luftrofl, on 12/14/2007, -0/+5Typical Japanese-Korean rivalries :D
  • sajnikanth, on 12/13/2007, -0/+5This mouse is da man -

    http://hpcsc.appstate.edu/images/pagemaster/cat__m ...
  • monkeyrun, on 12/13/2007, -1/+6Fixed: Americans not addicted to being raped by the government.
  • akimbo, on 12/13/2007, -0/+4 i think its more than just a few years bro...
  • inactive, on 12/13/2007, -2/+6I don't think the cat minds at all. Easy dinner. :-)
  • inactive, on 12/13/2007, -2/+6I, for one, welcome our new fearless mouse overlords. =Meow=
  • fasda, on 12/14/2007, -0/+4because if we have separation of church and state (not familiar with laws outside of US) then the separation should be total and complete with no exception.
  • humanerror, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4nice job not understanding how science works.

    this is exactly the kind of research that is most likely to lead to breakthroughs in medical science like the cure for cancer. first we need a better understanding of exactly how gene alterations affect changes in the phenotype. then we can use that knowledge to help humans.

    or did you think scientists are supposed to just sit around grinding their "cure cancer" skill until it reaches 100%?
  • jrizzo, on 12/14/2007, -1/+5There are diggs on emo?
  • Provita, on 12/14/2007, -0/+3Because I am surrounded by ignorant, pompous, self-righteous pricks who use that as an argument for why this nation is a Christian nation and should, therefore, have merely Christian laws. Believe it or not, there are people in this world so stupid as to then believe the argument. The argument is utterly foolish... but I still support the removal of anything a) potentially unconstitutional [I've seen worthy debates on both sides] and b) be used by religious fundamentalists as an argument for their illogical blabbering.

    And the religious *do* brainwash people. Two seats behind me is a kid who says we should bomb Iran because "they are Muslim." Where was he taught this? His parents.

    Religion isn't the direct problem. Ignorant parents and other authorities are. In all respects. However... religion is one of the things used by those with power to brainwash or control the utterly stupid. Like children.

    I'm not afraid of religion... but I a scared to death of everyone around me, because half of them are religious fanatics... and who can vote.
  • inactive, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3Your ***** must be a scary sight.
  • minnymoo, on 12/13/2007, -1/+4great- instead of trying to get rid of mice, they can now kill themselves by walking straight into a cats mouth.
    everyone's happy but the mouse, who is dead. but technically it's in a better place?
  • WaterDragon, on 12/14/2007, -0/+3heh heh Does anyone remember the 'restaurant at the end of the universe' scene, when the pig came to the table and described how he would be prepared
  • JT114881, on 12/14/2007, -0/+3Mice are afraid of people...
  • inactive, on 12/14/2007, -0/+3Probably to verify a condition that exists when rodents, animals (and even humans) are exposed to cat feces for an extended period of time. Cat feces contain a bacteria, that if it makes its way into the blood stream and eventually the brain, will turn off those same receptors that they have disabled.

    There was already an experiment done regarding this. Perhaps someone here remembers where the article is, I can't find it. The mice were completely un-afraid of the cats and the outcome was predictable.

    This lead to a study that tied schizophrenia to cat feces as it pertains to humans. That is why pregnant women are recommended to not be near a cat litter box or to have cats, as they track the feces around the house.
  • sirlancelot88, on 12/14/2007, -0/+3So mrkmrk, just because things are different from each other, they HAVE to be enemies? I guess blacks and whites should be enemies huh?
  • KingGorilla, on 12/14/2007, -0/+3Can they make me fearless of girls?
  • bdogm, on 12/13/2007, -1/+4...science!
  • fasda, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3mice that attack cats on contact
  • djdingo, on 12/14/2007, -0/+2The comments section is not broken.

    -Kevin Rose
  • nizzy1115, on 12/14/2007, -0/+2Now look what you did. All the emo's on digg are crying.
  • Vlatro, on 12/13/2007, -2/+4Wow, you're looking at this so pessimistically. I'll bet you that not a single one of these mice dies of cancer. Did you fund their research? If not, it's neither your time or your money. Your concerns aren't even a low priority to university. That must piss you off. You delusions of significance have swollen your head so much, I doubt you'll ever be able to pull it out of your ass. Eat *****.
  • sporktek, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Yay! Retarded mice!
  • RoboDonut, on 12/14/2007, -0/+2There are emos on digg?
  • Vlatro, on 12/14/2007, -0/+2Yeah, they'll take away our ability smell, but I think most of us can still sense *****.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 100 of 159 discussions

  • Add a Comment

    Login or register to comment!
    Or, sign-in super fast with your Facebook account ...


© Digg Inc. 2009 — Content created and posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain | Terms of Use Updated | Privacy Policy
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.