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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