Genetics: Scientists wanted to appease hamsters by modifying their genes with the CRISPR-Cas9 technique, they made them much more aggressive

Scientists ‘really surprised’ after gene-editing experiment unexpectedly turns hamsters into hyper-aggressive bullies.
Joshua Zitser May 21, 2022, 3:10 PM

The team expected that eliminating vasopressin activity would allow the hamsters to behave more peacefully. According to a statement from Georgia State University (GSU), a team of neuroscience researchers were “really surprised” by the results of a gene-editing experiment that unexpectedly created hyperaggressive hamsters. The GSU research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), aimed to better understand the biology of mammalian social behavior.

Scientists used Syrian hamsters and CRISPR-Cas9, a breakthrough technology that can turn genes on or off in cells. The technology eliminated a receptor for vasopressin, a hormone associated with increased aggression. Scientists believed that by doing so, they would “radically” change the social behavior of Syrian hamsters, making them more peaceful. Their behavior did change, but not in the way they had expected.

“We were really surprised by the results,” said the study’s lead author, GSU ​​professor H. Elliott Albers, in the university’s statement. “We predicted that if we eliminated vasopressin activity, we would reduce both aggression and social communication,” Albers continues. “But the opposite happened”. Hamsters lacking the receptor displayed “high levels of aggression” towards same-sex hamsters compared to their counterparts with intact receptors, the study says.

“This suggests a startling conclusion,” Albers said, according to the statement. “Although we know that vasopressin increases social behaviors by acting in a number of brain regions, it is possible that the more global effects of the Avpr1a receptor are inhibitory.”The “counterintuitive results” show that the scientists “ don’t understand this system as well as we thought,” Albers said.

Developing genetically modified hamsters has “not been easy,” Albers continued. He added that a better understanding of the role of vasopressin in social behavior is essential to help scientists identify new treatment strategies for psychiatric disorders in humans, ranging from autism to depression.

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