Planet of the Mice
So to those who don't get this reference ^ watch Planet of the Apes first, and read on.
Scientists have figured out how to use "humanized" versions of genes on mice, to make them learn quicker. This gene is called Foxp2, known to control the activity of other genes, and has also been linked to the development of human speech and language. They changed two key amino acids in mice DNA to equivalent to changing two "letters" of it's genetic code, in order to make the gene more similar to human Foxp2. The gene alters the striatum in the brain which is responsible for speech and language, but also two forms of learning; by consciousness called declarative learning, and non-consciousness called procedural learning. In the series of maze experiments the scientists did, mice with the humanized gene learned stimulus-response associations more rapidly than regular mice undergoing the same learning tests. Parts of the striatum were also found to respond differently with the mice by testing the levels of messenger chemicals in the brain (dopamine), gene activity patterns and the synaptic plasticity, the changes of strength in brain connections. This study shows "how genetic changes might have adapted the nervous system" to language and speech, said scientists Ann Graybiel and her colleagues in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Of course there were some issues raised like in the classic sci-fi movie Planet of the Apes did. Scientists asked ethical questions posed by mixing human and animal genes like Foxp2, because they might come across the issue of confronting whether an animal with some human genes deserves human rights. So it's official, I think it's possible apes can have "humanized" genes and talk and think like humans, in Planet of the Apes. It can happen one day, I already know a couple of trained chimpanzees can talk, and understand commands, but if they get altered genes, then our species have close cousins. If we also give them cooked food and teach them how to cook, that will also apparently give them bigger brains, because 200 million years ago we learned how to cook food and so gained more nutrition from it. I'd love a future with an intelligent inter-species community, where real lizard woman, and Chubacas can roam the streets. Maybe mice will one day take over the galaxy like in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
(Week 1:10/3/14)
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