Virile Vermin: Enhanced Mice Live Longer, Play Harder, and Have More Sex

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, have created a colony 500 supermice. As the Journal of Biological Chemistry reports:

Parvin Hakimi and colleagues overexpressed the gene for PEPCK-C in the skeletal muscle of transgenic mice to assess the metabolic and physiological consequences. Surprisingly, they discovered the transgenic mice were 7 times more active than control mice. The mice were able to exercise on a treadmill for 2-6 km, as compared to 0.2 km for wild-type mice, and they ran twice as fast as control mice.

This greatly enhanced exercise capacity was accompanied by a large increase in mitochondria and triglyceride content in the skeletal muscle. The transgenics were long-lived and retained their enhanced exercise capacity, as well as their fecundity, into murine old age. The mice overexpressing the gene for PEPCK-C also had very little body fat, despite eating 60% more than control mice. The authors conclude that overexpression of PEPCK-C repatterns energy metabolism and leads to greater longevity.

According to the British newspaper the Independent:

The American scientists who created the mice … said that they were stunned by their abilities, especially given that the animals came about as a result of a standard genetic modification to a single metabolism gene shared with humans.

They emphasised that the aim of the research was not to prepare the way to enhance the genes of people. However, they accepted that it may be possible to use the findings to develop new drugs or treatments that could one day be used to "enhance" the natural abilities of athletes.

One observation: I find it annoying that researchers apparently always have to make the ritual disclaimer that their work does not "prepare the way to enhance the genes of people." And why use scare quotes around the word "enhance" when talking about the possible relevance of the research to developing new drug treatments? There is nothing wrong with wanting to safely enhance the physical and mental capabilities of people. Speculating on cures for cancer is fine, whereas speculating on enhancements is not.

Whole Independent article here.