5 ms·
That would be very dangerous and possibly the plot of some hard sci-fi thriller. If immortal mice were to somehow escape the lab and breed in the wild we could
by deadbabe 1y ago
That would be very dangerous and possibly the plot of some hard sci-fi thriller. If immortal mice were to somehow escape the lab and breed in the wild we could rapidly end up with massive populations of mice that never die of aging, ultimately collapsing entire ecosystems and food chains, leading to the end of humanity.
- lblume 1y ago1. Of course they should be sterilized. 2. The most common causes of death for wild mice are predation, diseases, and starvation. Theoretically immortal mice have no chance in the real world if not very well-adapted to these conditions.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1y agoIt’s also not hard to imagine that an immortal organism has higher metabolic needs. Meaning they are more prone to starvation and potentially less fit.
- prerok 1y agoMice? No, too many predators. Now, crows that would be a different matter. Already seen in the movie "Birds" ;)
- NooneAtAll3 1y agoeven focusing on age-related death, you assume that such treatment is one-and-done deal instead of continuous pharmaceutical life support
- narag 1y agoSo they won't be immortal for too long.
- NooneAtAll3 1y agoactive support do be like that
- fainpul 1y agoIt's my understanding that mice don't live long, because slower aging didn't provide a significant evolutionary advantage (lot's of predators, mainly). Instead the rate of reproduction settled at a very high level [1]. So by that logic, engineered, non-aging mice wouldn't have much of an advantage in the wild. [1] https://biologyinsights.com/the-mice-mating-process-and-their-rapid-reproduction/ https://biologyinsights.com/the-mice-mating-process-and-thei... Fascinating, really.
- WillAdams 1y agoWell there is _Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H._....
- wiseowise 1y agoImmortal is not invincible.