remember the pre-Covid world where science does trials to prove a hypothesis instead of jabbing everyone on the planet 3 or 4 times and assume your new, never-before-approved vaccine works flawlessy?
A team of scientists at Northwestern University in the US have accidentally created overly-aggressive mutant hamsters following a gene-editing experiment. ?
They were trying to increase bonding between the lovable animals but failed. Using the controversial CRISPR technology, researchers at Northwestern University were examining a hormone called vasopressin and its receptor, Avpr1a.
They opted to try and remove the latter from a group of Syrian hamsters, with the expectation it would increase bonding and co-operation between the lovable little critters.
Avpr1a is understood to regulate things like teamwork and friendship as well as dominance and bonding ?
Their expectation proved to be wrong. Very wrong!
Lead researcher Professor H Elliot Albers said:
"This receptor regulates bonding, friendship and teamwork, we anticipate that if we eliminate it, they will bond even more than before. We anticipated that if we eliminated vasopressin activity, we would reduce both aggression and social communication."
'But the opposite happened.'
The academics found the adorable bundles of fluff turned into mutant rage monsters exhibiting 'high levels of aggression towards other same-sex individuals.' Professor Albert admitted the results of the experiment were a 'startling conclusion'.