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Male and female behavior deconstructed
Looks like scientists are getting closer to nailing down the 'nature' side of gender-related behavior... and possibly future treatments for disorders and diseases that affect one gender more than the other.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/uoc--maf020212.php
(snip)
Now a team of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has uncovered many genes influenced by the male and female sex hormones testosterone and estrogen that, in turn, govern several specific types of male and female behaviors in mice.
The UCSF team selectively turned many of these genes off one by one and found they could manipulate individual behaviors in the mice, like their sex drive, desire to pick fights, or willingness to spend extra time caring for their young.
"It's as if you can deconstruct a social behavior into genetic components," said Nirao Shah, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Anatomy at UCSF who led the research, which is published in the 2/3/12 issue of the journal Cell. "Each gene regulates a few components of a behavior without affecting other aspects of male and female behavior.
(snip)
"Some of the genes we have identified in our study have indeed been implicated in various human disorders that are found in sex-skewed ratios," said Shah. "We won't immediately find all the answers to these disorders based on this research alone, but in the future, it might indeed help to identify more informed ways of treating such conditions."
...
(snip)
Now a team of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has uncovered many genes influenced by the male and female sex hormones testosterone and estrogen that, in turn, govern several specific types of male and female behaviors in mice.
The UCSF team selectively turned many of these genes off one by one and found they could manipulate individual behaviors in the mice, like their sex drive, desire to pick fights, or willingness to spend extra time caring for their young.
"It's as if you can deconstruct a social behavior into genetic components," said Nirao Shah, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Anatomy at UCSF who led the research, which is published in the 2/3/12 issue of the journal Cell. "Each gene regulates a few components of a behavior without affecting other aspects of male and female behavior.
(snip)
"Some of the genes we have identified in our study have indeed been implicated in various human disorders that are found in sex-skewed ratios," said Shah. "We won't immediately find all the answers to these disorders based on this research alone, but in the future, it might indeed help to identify more informed ways of treating such conditions."
...
24 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
No more picking fights, attempting to mount females, no more wars...
Female mice in the laboratory normally exhibit what one might consider classic motherly behaviors—mating with male mice and nurturing their young. But female mice with a genetic trait making them unable to sense the hormone estrogen lose their interest in sex and spend less time caring for their offspring.
Fortified by testosterone, male mice in the laboratory display behaviors tending toward the aggressive. They will fight with each other, try to mount female mice and mark their territory with urine. Deprived of testosterone, however, castrated male mice no longer behave so aggressively.
Fortified by testosterone, male mice in the laboratory display behaviors tending toward the aggressive. They will fight with each other, try to mount female mice and mark their territory with urine. Deprived of testosterone, however, castrated male mice no longer behave so aggressively.
I must have a lot of both.
I guess I totally mistook "often inducing aggressive behavior in the process" and "they will fight with each other, try to mount female mice and mark their territory with urine" as bad things.
In fact, I totally missed all the good things that the article had to say about testosterone, particularly...
er...
ummm....
I know they were mentioned in there somewhere.
