Scientists have bred a [a href="vny!://www.scienceblog.com/cms/ever-happy-mice-may-hold-key-to-new-treatment-of-depression-11343.html"]strain of mouse that's permanently cheerful[/a], in hopes of better understanding and treating depression in people. By breeding mice lacking the TREK-1 gene, which is involved in serotonin transmission, researchers were able create a depression-resistant strain. They say it's the first time depression has been eliminated through genetic alteration of an organism.
Someone else's take on it:
"Mice wake up, eat, shit and run on their wheel.
Mice DON'T change the world. Mice don't invent new tools to save back breaking labor.
Mice don't feel taunted by the universe, to figure out it's secrets.
Mice don't get depressed because a loved one is dying of cancer, and work tirelessly seeking, supporting, and funding medical research. (then again I think Mice get the raw end of this particular desire of Man)
I am not a rat in cage.
I am not a tool to be made happy so I can work longer at a job I should hate.
Keep your chemical paradise, I'll take life for all it's worth."
