Post by Colonel Nick Fury on Nov 2, 2007 16:43:51 GMT -5
This is a report from Sky News. They managed to genetically modify mice to create super mice. This makes a real life super soldier even more possible. Hmm. A man can dream, can't he?
Mighty Mouse - a genetically modified rodent who can run faster, live longer and eat twice as much as normal mice without putting on weight - has been bred by scientists in the US.
The creation of the amazing specimen could have implications for humans too.
He was given his super-powers through the modification of a single metabolism gene shared with human beings.
Mighty Mouse was created by a 15-strong team at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. There are now about 500 of the super-mice.
They can run up to six kilometres, at a speed of 20 metres per minute, for five hours without stopping.
Professor Richard Hanson, who led the research, said the creatures' powers were comparable to a cyclist pedalling up a mountain without stopping.
They can also continue to have sex later in life than normal mice.
Prof Hanson told The Independent: "They are metabolically similar to Lance Armstrong biking up the Pyrenees.
"They utilise mainly fatty acids for energy and produce very little lactic acid. They are not eating or drinking and yet they can run for four or five hours.
"They are 10 times more active than ordinary mice in their home cage. They also live longer - up to three years of age - and are reproductively active for almost three years. In short they are remarkable animals."
He said they ate twice as much as normal mice but were half the weight. On the downside, however, he said "they are very aggressive. Why this is the case we are not really sure."
Prof Hanson said the same experiement could not currently be carried out on humans - and said he believed it should not be even if it could.
Pharmaceutical companies could use the team's findings to develop new drugs to enhance muscle performance, however.
Source: Sky News
Mighty Mouse - a genetically modified rodent who can run faster, live longer and eat twice as much as normal mice without putting on weight - has been bred by scientists in the US.
The creation of the amazing specimen could have implications for humans too.
He was given his super-powers through the modification of a single metabolism gene shared with human beings.
Mighty Mouse was created by a 15-strong team at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. There are now about 500 of the super-mice.
They can run up to six kilometres, at a speed of 20 metres per minute, for five hours without stopping.
Professor Richard Hanson, who led the research, said the creatures' powers were comparable to a cyclist pedalling up a mountain without stopping.
They can also continue to have sex later in life than normal mice.
Prof Hanson told The Independent: "They are metabolically similar to Lance Armstrong biking up the Pyrenees.
"They utilise mainly fatty acids for energy and produce very little lactic acid. They are not eating or drinking and yet they can run for four or five hours.
"They are 10 times more active than ordinary mice in their home cage. They also live longer - up to three years of age - and are reproductively active for almost three years. In short they are remarkable animals."
He said they ate twice as much as normal mice but were half the weight. On the downside, however, he said "they are very aggressive. Why this is the case we are not really sure."
Prof Hanson said the same experiement could not currently be carried out on humans - and said he believed it should not be even if it could.
Pharmaceutical companies could use the team's findings to develop new drugs to enhance muscle performance, however.
Source: Sky News
