Flowers for Algernon -- Non-fiction Version

[Gord_in_Toronto]

The science fiction of my youth becomes fact yet once again

Scientists Insert a Human “Language Gene” Into Mice — and Now They’re Talking Differently

Scientists just inserted a human gene into mice, and the results are nothing short of mind-blowing. The vocalizations of the rodents changed in ways no one expected.

indiandefencereview.com

Well, maybe, almost.

 

[catsmate]

The science fiction of my youth becomes fact yet once again

Scientists Insert a Human “Language Gene” Into Mice — and Now They’re Talking Differently

Scientists just inserted a human gene into mice, and the results are nothing short of mind-blowing. The vocalizations of the rodents changed in ways no one expected.

indiandefencereview.com

Well, maybe, almost.

Is that a reliable source? I'm extremely dubious.

 

[catsmate]

If you remember, put some flowers on his grave
He was my little friend for all the comfort that he gave
He never called me dummy, he was always on my side
I was so very sorry when he died.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Is that a reliable source? I'm extremely dubious.

Original paper here:

A single protein may have helped shape the emergence of spoken language - News

How much does the evolution of human speech owe to one amino acid?

www.rockefeller.edu

It's a bit of a stretch to say the mice are "talking" but the research has been done.

Key takeaways

• Researchers investigated a protein variant found only in the human brain.
• When placed in mice, the variant surprisingly changed how the mice vocalized to each other.
• The findings have implications for both human disease and the origins of complex spoken language.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Their vocallizations changed but normal mice couldn't understand them. Didn't improve their life much.

 

[PitPat]

Interesting, I remember it being the first short story that literally made me cry. There's been a few movies about that concept -- you get new technology that makes you a bit superhuman, but the side effect is a short death after it wears off.

But talking mice sounds cool. Can't imagine they'd have anything interesting to say. Maybe "want food, hate cats".

Reminds me of an Onion headline:

Genetically Modified Broccoli Shrieks Its Benefits At Shoppers​

 

[shemp]

So how many genes would have to be put into Herr Schitler to make him normal?

 

[dann]

Interesting, I remember it being the first short story that literally made me cry. There's been a few movies about that concept -- you get new technology that makes you a bit superhuman, but the side effect is a short death after it wears off.

So how many genes would have to be put into Herr Schitler to make him normal?

Good question, but he has already lived far too long.