A group of scientists in Georgia accidentally created a new breed of hamsters, significantly more aggressive than the average species.
The researchers were performing gene editing procedures on the hamsters, to make them interact more with each other. However, instead of making them friendlier, the experiment had the exact opposite effect. The rodents became extremely aggressive, and according to the Daily Mail, they began chasing, biting, and pinning each other down in their cages.
The scientists removed the vasopressin hormone from the animals to make them more friendly. The chemical, scientifically known as Avpr1a, has been found to control sociability and friendship. For this reason, the experiment aimed at removing this hormone so the hamsters would bond more with each other. Instead, they became more violent, especially with their same-sex counterparts.
The results left the research team in awe, with Professor Elliott Albers, the leader of the experiment stating that “We anticipated […] we would reduce both aggression and social communication — but the opposite happened. We were really surprised at the results.”
The experiment used gene-editing technology, which implied suppressing a receptor that connects to vasopressin in certain areas of the brain. This procedure should have made the hamsters immune to the Avpr1a hormone, which would have made them behave in a more friendly manner to other hamsters. However, after the procedure, the rodents began attacking and fighting more often. They even pinned each other down and started biting one another, generally displaying more aggressive behavior than before the experiment.
The conclusion drawn by the research team was that “the counterintuitive findings tell us we need to start thinking about the actions of these receptors across entire circuits of the brain, not just in specific brain regions. Developing gene-edited hamsters was not easy. But it is important to understand that the neurocircuitry involved in human social behavior and our model- has […] relevance for human health.”
Photo by Ricky Kharawala on Unsplash
