LIFESCIENCE: Genetic engineering boosts mice intelligence

[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 Sci/Tech

Wednesday, September 1, 1999 Published at 21:11 GMT 22:11 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_435000/435816.stm

Genetic engineering boosts intelligence

Doogie remembered objects for longer


US researchers have genetically modified mice to be better at learning and
remembering. Team leader Joe Tsien, a neurobiologist at Princeton University
said simply: "They're smarter."

Humans also have the added gene, although it is not
yet known whether it has the same function in
people. But the scientists believe their results show
that one day it may be possible to boost human
intelligence.
The breakthrough will ignite debate about whether
such a feat would be ethical but Ira Black, chairman
of neuroscience at Rutgers University says: "It's
very exciting and holds the hope of not only making
animals smarter but also, ultimately, of having a human gene therapy for use
in areas such as dementia."

Side effects

However, Dr Tim Bliss, head of neurophysiology at the National Institute for
Medical Research in London, said: "When you insert a gene at random into the
genome you don't know what might happen. These animals seem to be OK, but
there might be all sorts of hidden down sides to having this extra protein.

"I think it's very unlikely that tinkering with one gene is going to increase
intelligence and do nothing else. In my view talk of genetically enhancing
human intelligence is nonsense."

However, he said new drug or gene therapy treatments might emerge from the
research. "It certainly raises that possibility, but we are very far away
at the
moment."

Smart young things

The research team from Princeton, Washington and MIT universities found that
adding a single gene to mice significantly boosted the animals' ability to
solve
maze tasks, learn from objects and sounds in their environment and to retain
that knowledge.


The intelligence-boosting effect results
from the mice retaining into adulthood
certain brain features of juvenile mice.
Like young humans, young mice are
widely believed to be better than adults
at grasping large amounts of new
information.

This new strain of mice is named
Doogie, after a precocious character on
the US television show Doogie Howser,
MD.

One key feature of learning is the ability
to associate one event with another -
associating fire with the sensation of
pain is a simple example. The research
shows that the gene used, called NR2B,
is very important in controlling this
ability.

It is the blueprint for a protein that spans the surface of neurons and serves
as a docking point, or receptor, for certain chemical signals. This receptor,
called NMDA, is like a double lock on a door; it needs two keys or events
before it opens.
Studies have shown that in young animals the NMDA receptor responds even
when the two events happen relatively far apart, so it is easier to make
connections between events and to learn. After adolescence, the receptor
becomes less responsive, making learning more difficult. But introducing the
NR2B gene kept the Doogie mice's brains "young".

Testing times

Showing that the Doogie mice were more intelligent required a number of tests:

Object recognition - The mice explored two objects for five minutes.
Several days later, one object was replaced with a new one. When the
mice returned, the Doogie mice remembered the old object, and
devoted their time to exploring the new one. The normal mice,
however, spent an equal amount of time exploring both objects. The
Doogie mice remembered objects four to five times longer.
Emotional memory - The animals received mild electric shocks to
their feet. When the mice were put back in the chamber up to 10
days later, the Doogie mice showed much more fear than the control
mice.
Learning response - The mice again received shocks and were then
placed back into the fear-causing environment, but without the
shocks. The Doogie mice were much quicker to resume normal
behaviour: they learned faster.
Spatial learning - The mice were put into a pool of water that had a
hidden platform where they could climb out of the water. The Doogie
mice learned to find the platform after three sessions, while the
control mice required six.

The research results will help researchers trying to understand and treat human
disorders that involve the loss of learning and memory. The NR2B gene would
be a potential target for drug makers trying to design medicines that boost its
effects, but this remains many years away.

__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> 


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