LIFESCIENCE: gene change social behaviors

[Kepa Landa <k.landa@newport.ac.uk>]

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ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL 99
LIFESCIENCE
Linz, Austria, September 04 - 09
http://www.aec.at/lifescience
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BBC News
Wednesday, August 18, 1999 Published at 17:43 GMT 18:43 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_424000/424076.stm

                                  Sci/Tech

                                  Geneticists make faithful mice

                                  The prairie vole gene made the mice more
faithful

                                  Scientists have transformed promiscuous
male mice into more faithful
                                  partners and doting dads by inserting a
single gene from a prairie vole.


                                                                      It is
the first time that one gene has proven

sufficient to change complex social behaviors so

dramatically, the US researchers believe.

                                                                      Tom
Insel and Larry Young, at Emory University,
                                                                      have
also recently done related studies in

non-human primates and now plan to focus on
                                                                      humans.


Progress for mental illness

                                  Virtually every kind of human mental
illness is characterised by abnormal
                                  social attachments, but very little is
known about the role that genetics has on
                                  forming social partnerships.

                                  The team think their research could lead
to greater understanding of this area,
                                  for example in in learning how social
isolation can result from brain dysfunction.

                                  "In psychopathologic disorders, there is
a severe deficit in social behaviour
                                  and there could be genetic factors
involved," Dr Young said.

                                  "But it takes a lot of time to move from
animal research into humans," Young
                                  warned. "And in human cultures we may
find that experience and values have a
                                  lot more to do with behaviour."

                                  Partners for life

                                  The experiments, published in Nature
magazine, used a gene from the prairie
                                  vole. Males of this rodent are faithful
partners and attentive fathers.

                                  "After mating, the male prairie vole
forms a strong social bond. He prefers to
                                  be with that mate to the exclusion of all
others," said Dr Young. "That pair
                                  nests together. When she has her babies
he spends as much time with those
                                  babies as she does. He also defends the
nest and they stay together for the
                                  next litter and the next and the next."

                                  By contrast, the male mice used normally
abandon the female immediately
                                  after mating and have no role in raising
their offspring.

                                  But by transferring a gene from the voles
to the mice, the male mice became
                                  much more sociable to their mates,
although occasional "extra-marital" affairs
                                  did still occur.

                                  Patterns of the brain

                                  The gene determines the pattern of
particular hormone receptors in the
                                  rodent's brain. The hormone here is
called vasopressin and was already known
                                  to have an effect on male social
behaviours such as aggression and
                                  communication.



Dr Insel said: "What is really intriguing is

that a change in a single gene can lead

to a new pattern of receptors in the brain

and then result in this profound

difference in something as complex as

social behavior."


Although a multitude of genes are likely

to be involved in the evolution of

monogamy, this work begins to identify

the links between DNA sequences, brain

chemistry and social behavior.


"Perhaps it will turn out that mutations in

this same gene have occurred many

times in evolution, leading to alterations

in patterns of social interaction and

facilitating monogamy under special

socio-ecological conditions," Dr Insel

added.

__Kepa Landa _________________________________________________
CAiiA - University of Wales College Newport, (Caerleon Campus)
PO Box 179,   Newport,  NP6 1YG     UNITED KINGDOM-REINO UNIDO
tel/fax:44 (0)1633-4321 68 / home : (0)1633-42 39 93
http://caiia-star.newport.plymouth.ac.uk
<k.landa@newport.ac.uk>   <kepalanda@hotmail.com>


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