4 ms·
like any science article nowadays - - this is probably what the title should read "Fake sensation of fear implanted in GENETICALLY modified mice by repeated and
by kamakazizuru 13y ago
like any science article nowadays - - this is probably what the title should read "Fake sensation of fear implanted in GENETICALLY modified mice by repeated and prolonged exposure to a beam of light"
- return0 13y agoNo it's not a sensation, it's an association that happens as rapidly as it would happen under real circumstances. And the mice were not genetically modified, the rhodopsin was delivered through a virus. This is important because it helps us understand the way memories are encoded, however it is for very primitive and basic kinds of memory.
- kamakazizuru 13y agoim not debating its importance - as for the genetically modified part -i will give you that they werent modified at embryo stage as is typically the case in GM Species. The virus did not deliver rhodopsin - but additional genes that allowed the cells of the rats to encode the optogenetic proteins. That is by all means a genetic modification. It wasnt just a drug injection or something!
- return0 13y agoSorry, i hadn't read the actual paper until now. Actually they did use transgenic GM mice, which allow the expression of rhodopsin in activated cells. While the title of the article is not very revealing, it's pretty close to what they did, although by no means did they "use lasers to implant a memory", they used a lot of other stuff too.
- kamakazizuru 13y agoyes that was precisely my point. No sense commenting on an article if you havent read what it talks about.
- return0 13y agoyeah, but you did