Study Discovers DNA That Tells Mice How to Construct Their Homes
by James Gorman is an article in the New
York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/science/mouse-study-discovers-dna-that-controls-behavior.html?_r=00 ) that explains the discovery of DNA playing a major
role in the type of burrow a mouse will dig. The DNA will tell the mouse the
length of the burrow and whether this burrow contains an escape route or not. This
discovery is important because it can lead to discovery about behavioral variations
in humans.
An experiment with Oldfield mice and Peromyscus
maniculatus by Dr. Hoekstra lead to the
discovery. The Oldfield mice would dig
long burrows with escape tunnels while the Peromyscus maniculatus
dug short burrows without escape tunnels. After this information was recorded
Dr. Hoekstra bred these two species and discovered that their offspring dug
burrows with lengths that varied. The next step in this experiment was breeding
the hybrids with the original short-burrow species. The burrows of these
offspring showed varying lengths and some with or without escape tunnels. With
all of this information Dr. Hoekstra concluded that DNA by itself does not
determine the type of burrow, but the length of tunnels is 30 percent
inherited.
A
connection is made to biology class since we have recently been studying DNA.
DNA is the information used to build proteins, and the proteins then are the
instructions to building you. In this case, the DNA in mice help tell them the
length to build a burrow and if the burrow should be made with an escape tunnel.
I find this interesting because if scientists can discover that DNA is the
cause of behavior variations in mice they hopefully then use this information to
discover which DNA causes behavior variations in humans.
Danielle, I found your blog very interesting. I think that it is amazing that these small animals know so much. I find it so interesting that they know how to burrow their homes from instinct. It makes me wonder what we can do without being told to do. Also I wonder if this can help scientists find cures for humans and other animals too. I think that so many animals and humans have certain behaviors that we just do not notice. I wonder what they would find out about our behaviors. Good job Danielle. I think you had a good overview on the whole article and had a nice tie in to Biology!
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting. Instinct doesn't come out of nowhere, and this experiment further proves that what affects it is ultimately DNA. Humans don't seem to do many things out of some sort of instinct or impulse, but we do inherit different personality traits. It's true that if your family has a history of some sort of brain thing, like depression, you're more likely to develop it. This has been known in the medical world for a while, i think. But the amazing part of this experiment is that it shows that the traits can actually mix and become varied, instead of being inherited in a pure form. It sort of explains why humans, though we go through a lot of the same experiences, develop and act differently, and have different susceptibilities to problems. Overall, your summary was a good overview and really enlightening.
ReplyDeleteI think it's incredible that DNA can not only control how we look but some of our instinctual behaviors. It's so hard to fathom that our brains our "wired" the way they are because of our DNA. Such tiny pieces of use can cause so much to happen. Without DNA, we would basically be lost. Another example of this could be the migratory patterns of birds. They all seem to know where they are going and where they need to go at the changing of the seasons. Like Natalie said, this can kind of explain why humans all have different habits, act differently and are susceptible to different kinds of problems or behaviors. Good job and you tied it in to our class well!
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