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Genetic engineers breed a mouse that's "permanently cheerful"
allheadlinenews.com — The so-called "permanently cheerful" mice are offering hope for a new treatment against clinical depression. This research is significant since it is the first time depression has been eliminated by altering the genetic code in an organism.
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- gr8one, on 10/12/2007, -21/+9For a second I thought this story was about gay rodents...
- queefer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5this reminds me of the giver for some reason.
- ButtholeSurfer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9i thought mice were already permanently cheerful. digg teaches me new things each and every day.
- gimianame, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1one of my fav books, got me interested in dystopians and Russian literature in the first place..
- maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Kind of scary.. I sure as hell wouldnt want to be permenantly cheery...
- o0o0steve, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Scary. Reminds me of something similar to planet Miranda from Serenity
- Geekbeard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2... or Colin the robot.
- skyhighrockets, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1...or the movie "AI"
- EricDraven, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"Treatment for clinical depression?" Someone call Tom Cruise and ask his opinion please?
- xtmno3, on 10/12/2007, -5/+34Interesting idea, but what about the good that depression causes?
When you are unhappy with your life, and seem to be in a large rut, at some point it will get to you and you will make a change to your lifestyle, hopefully improving your life.
On the contrary, if you were always 'cheerful' you might be living a terrible life for yourself, but unwilling to change because you have a routine down and are alright with it. You miss out on the opportunity for the greater good.
Not to mention that depression is another aspect of life, just like death. If you take it away, you are depriving people of the diversity of life.- nazuraki, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23I can't wait until there's some kind of pill I can take to get rid of these pesky emotions altogether...
- CamZak, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17Forget reality and the desire to achieve! Instead, take the happy pills! Sure, your life may stink. But look on the bright side...you're artificially happy. Even if you realize that your happyness is fake, you won't care because you're happy.
About to get fired because you spent the day being happy and staring out the window?
Don't care, you're happy!
Life stinks because of choices you made in the past?
Don't bother trying to change them, you're happy!
Just remember, all annoyances of life can be solved just by taking a pill. Sure, the problems still exist. But you'll be happy! - MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"I can't wait until there's some kind of pill I can take to get rid of these pesky emotions altogether..."
Dayquil can do that, but it's not permanent. - Haplo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7"Interesting idea, but what about the good that depression causes?"
Maybe you missed *clinical* in the whole story?
Furthermore, not every depression is caused by a wrong life style. Depression is way to complicated to generalize in a simplistic manner like you just did. - Haplo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"I can't wait until there's some kind of pill I can take to get rid of these pesky emotions altogether..."
You might want to read: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/2006/08/14/antidepressants-no-cure.html - therickster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Interesting idea, but what about the good that depression causes?
Maybe depression is good is small doses. I.E., I gained ten pounds and now I'm depressed. Maybe that person will lose the weight when they get fed up with the way they look. But in more severe cases of depression the chemical makeup of the brain is not easily put back into balance. A normal person may be able to go to the gym, and feel better. But someone with a severe case may need the medication just to keep a chemical balance that comes so easily to a normal person.
I agree that depression can be a call to action for some. A signpost telling them somethings wrong, but for others it is a never ending cycle when the world loses it's color and life fades away. The title, "Permanently Cheerful", is misleading. To me it doesn't mean that they are always happy, feeling no pain. To me it means that their demeanor or personality is cheerful. What a difference in the world this could make to the millions of chronic depression sufferers struggling to stand on stable emotional ground. - masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Definitely. I'm sure if we devote as much time and money to it, we can also make painless mice. However, some people suffer a defect which makes them inable to feel pain, and look at the horrible mess it causes.
Unhappiness is a natural part of life. Getting rid of depression isn't a good thing, it means that we're getting rid of part of what makes humans human -- emotion. - bitcloud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Negative" emotions are entirely subjective... I've never had any problems experiencing the full pallette of emotions, and whenever I've been "depressed" it's been because I'm feeling an emotion others tell me I shouldn't be.
- sandfish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I agree with you almost 100%... although with a slightly different view. The only person who can truly judge your quality of life is yourself. Now, I'm not saying a bum with an endless supply of heroin, who is happy every second because of it is the best way to live, but you know what, if he's happy, then who am I to judge?
- ribeyejake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Interesting idea, but what about the good that depression causes?"
While I appreciate the sentiment, you make the common error of confusion depression with sadness. People are often too quick to term themselves depressed when they're in fact just feeling down about something. Clinical depression does NOT make you change your life; it is in fact generally marked by an inability to motivate yourself to do anything at all as it all seems so pointless.
This doesn't mean that being permanently cheerful is the solution!
- gforb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Our society is "happy-happy". Anyone without a crazy smile on, even fake, gets told "You're not *yourself* today" or someone tries to force them to be happy. TV shows us happy people, but the people on TV only have to look happy for those 30 minutes of footage that will appear on TV. The angry moments either "go on the cutting floor" or they are displayed as deviations from the norm.
- nickerbocker, on 10/12/2007, -14/+1Now if only the French can do that to their citizens.
- EasY_TargeT, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1The french are happy, but ignorant. No offense.
- Kerjo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24In other news, a genetically engineered, "permanently cheerful" mouse was found dead today. Officials believe the cause of death were disgruntled mice that were tired of this one being cheerful _all the time_.
- gimianame, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8We would lose half of the good liturature if everyone was cheerful
isn't it the range of emotions that make us human?- richhand, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3not only that loss but most of the country western songs would be gone. of course, there wouldn't be anyone to listen to them either... oh my, what a world, what a world!
- TwoWayMonologue, on 10/12/2007, -13/+1Being happy is not a right, it is an obligation.
- micro506, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Honestly, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say here.
- gatorrock, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4So here's a real problem... they claim it was like their mice being on anti-depressants for 3 weeks. Most people on anti-depressants lose their sex drive. Will these mice mate? And is that really worth it?!!!
- Haplo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1The comparison if made is a bad one, see also: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/2006/08/14/antidepressants-no-cure.html
- lethalpotato, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"A gramme is better than a damn."
- oOLiquidNightOo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13this is sad.
- megaloid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I agree. I would go hang myself in protest except that I don't feel like getting out of bed.
- Cannon13, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8What the hell is going on here. Another story by digitalgopher on the front page, and the same people digging it as the other 20 stories he got to the front in the last little while. Something's not right.
- oOLiquidNightOo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
- EnderWalcott, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12They should call the process "soma."
O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such [mice] in it!- coolcrowe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I love BNW... it's my favorite book.
- MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I don't know why, but I find this disturbing.
- gmillerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Well I feel innately they are ***** with stuff for no better reason than to ***** with it. What on earth could they be curing by making something permanently cheerful?
Cue the skinny puppy sample (source escapes me) "i feel so happy" from the woman weeping.
- gmillerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Well I feel innately they are ***** with stuff for no better reason than to ***** with it. What on earth could they be curing by making something permanently cheerful?
- Wavey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Geeze. Next thing you know, they'll start wearing wizard hats and having little kids march around spelling out their names.
- anagoge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"...by breeding them without the TREK-1 gene"
There's always a better chance of breeding when you take away Trek... - sylphae, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0MMMM , one step closer to Gattica.
- gimianame, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1bury me
- Syntheto, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I dunno. This is kinda scary. It reminds me of Huxley's 'Brave New World' where the populace was kept happy and compliant with Soma.
What if an unscrupulous government (please, we don't have to name names or say if the (fill in political party here) gets in (or stays in) of whichever country decides that, instead of cracking heads and imprisoning critics of their regime, just start 'innoculating' the citizenry against 'depression' at an early age. It could always take the form of childhood immunizations.
You get wonderful press coverage and everybody is, well, Happy. - Toon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How long until he can command the mops and buckets to dance in unison?
- broken1812, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Seriously, I dont know how muich i would like everyone running around all happy all the time...i think it would make me mad.
- zone, on 10/30/2007, -1/+7Prepare For Re-Neducation!
- robbiedo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was so thinking of that!
- thefirstenemy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I can't tell what to think of this. I mean on one hand it's great they found a way that could cure clinical depression, but the "permanently" part is what is sort of scary. I don't know if I like the idea of people being permanently doped up to be happy.
Also, this brings up that whole "brain control" thing, where they make you seem happy then harvest your heart to feed Dick Cheney- Haplo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3People who suffer from manic depression know both sides of the coin: the depression, and the extremely happy. Neither is good if it lasts too long.
- blackjack75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ok, just to be sure:
Is it possible for the manic part to start appearing after 31 years? No? Ok, that's what I thought. Sigh... - Fordi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow. It's like no one reads TFA. Like Digg's become slashdot. Dayum.
Meanwhile, they've genetically prevented 'clinical depression', which is not the same depression you get when you're unhappy about your weight, or the large zit on your forehead. It's the kind of depression that, if unchecked, you see splattered on the pavement when someone's just had enough.
"Permanently Cheerful" seems misleading, but I won't fault them for it. I don't think there's a lab full of joker-smiling rats. I think it's probably more like playful, energetic rats. And, you know what? I'll bet they still get pissed off if you screw with 'em, too.
- Flanker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4They (All Headline News) misspelled serotonin. Wondering what else they got wrong in their watered-down summary? Me too. The actual paper is here: http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v9/n9/full/nn1749.html
- fatsobob, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Oh Great, Mice on crack.
- a1532b, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I sure hope they find a cure. Depression makes me sad :(
- zubin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4For those who find this disturbing: I didn't - clinical depression is a serious disability, and normally stays with the patient, making him/her take medication for the rest of his/her life. Quite often, the medication (over time) makes people feel so much "better" that they decide that they don't need it anymore, and immediately go back into depression.
It's quite difficult for family members to handle this, and if this research can help provide us humans some kind of non-dependance on expensive drugs, then I'm all for it.- Quakes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I agree. Anyone who's been in this situation, or knows someone who has, should understand.
- MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I like the fact that the mice would help cure people of their depression, but it's the thought that the mice know nothing else but happiness.
For ex, if it eats cheese it's happy, but if it doesn't it's still happy. If it's starving to death because you don't feed it or you abuse it in some way, it's still happy.
Idk, maybe I'm just depressed.
- irrationalman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0can't wait to have my genetic code altered to make me cheerful
- asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Brave New World, here we come?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldous_Huxley - TehUberGeeK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The article sounds like the beginning to a conspiracy movie.
"It was supposed to be the perfect society, but something went wrong..." - Freshjive787, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2we already have opiates, get youre genetic engineering out of here!
- ziks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"It's the happy helmet, Ren. Now you'll always be happy!"
- requiem18th, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@danpsmith (uhm this was a reply to dan's post bellow)
OH I happen to know exactly the reason this is so disturbing for us. It actually is a realization that we like all animals, want to reproduce our selves.
*But* we are _cultural_ animals, we have meme in addition to genes, and our drive to preserve our memes is even stronger than the other!
This is not (always) a rational decision to preserve your culture (although for some people this is clearly the way, i.e. patriotic people). Instead what w want is to protect the world that created the people we love.
Have every read a wonderful, touching book, or movie or song? A piece of works that takes you to the full range of the emotional spectrum? At the end, didn't you wanted to thank the author for writing such a beautiful story? Didn't you feel like everybody should read this book? So you bought copies to some friends and blogged about it?
Now imagine a world where this book could never exist, even worse, a world where the author of such work could have never been born _this way_.
The feeling of indignity or even rage this causes is the same reaction we would experiment if you where mugged.
Its self preservation on a cultural scale.
- requiem18th, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@danpsmith (uhm this was a reply to dan's post bellow)
- danpsmith, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This is probably going to be modded down, but so what if everyone did take a happy pill? What if everyone was happy all the time regardless of whether or not their situation was something that you "should" be happy about? What is this "greater good" that everyone is accomplishing by being miserable? Sure, you might not have some literature or whatever but the people writing those things were miserable and dealt with it the only way they knew how. Maybe there wouldn't be as much writing because it would no longer be necessary. What exactly is this goal that depression brings you closer toward? I say if you can be happy rolling around in your own ***** it's not really that bad of a thing. We all live, we all die, how we look at the world is 99% of our happiness anyway. If I could be happy without "improving" things, who gives a *****? What is there that we can really improve. Happy people wouldn't start wars or blow each other up in planes and commit mass murder in schools. The music might be a little bit more stale but nobody'd notice anyway. But in the end, who really gives a crap? I think a happy pill would be a good thing as long as everyone took it instead of some futuristic slave master soma relationship.
- Stevethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If happiness was the actual goal of human life then such a medicine would be great news. But being happy is just another emotion and being constantly cheerful would become boring at first and unbearable thereafter. It's a common misconception that being constantly happy is a desirable outcome, I would call that being in a constant eudaimonia would make the cut. In fact the only desirable outcome is complexity, namely causing simpler systems (icluding thyself) to become more complex, happiness is quite the opposite as it represents simplicity, an emotion that everywhere and anywhere feels the same, it's more of an outcome than an actual goal. Eudaimonia on the other hand is very different, it's the ideal state of mind in everything you do, be it science, art, philoshopy or practising spiritualism, we don't have a real archetype of that state of mind but we have many small examples like the people who are visionaries. They constantly live their vision and spread it to others and make it a common goal (of whatever flavour this goal is) for everybody around them, these are the people who for one have seen a bit of what we call eudaimonia and evidently these are the people who push human's limits forwards on every field.
If whatever I wrote seems -to some people- like some new age crap I have to disappoint them because this has nothing to do with any religion and most of all it's not new age at all. It is philoshophy, in fact Socrates first spoke 'bout it 2500 years ago, it's what we call "common sense" for those whose IQ permits them to see it.
As for the real theme of this thread, yeah ... I mean they can be used on people who suffer from chronic depression but then again it has to be used with extreme caution, this little thing has the "skill" to change people too much for their own good. - blaineg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3no doubt the University of Nice will be able to create permanently cheerful mice
- Imus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I know my mouse is happy, I have my hand on it all day... and I use the "scroll wheel".
- PseudoWaters, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Correction. permanently annoying or permanently creepy.
- blackjack75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Permanently cheerful?
Imagine having a mouse that behaves like Ned Flanders... - omnithought, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"BE Excited! Be be excited!"
- blast_flame, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Sounds like the game paranioa
"Most of the population, about 80%, is Infrared. Infrared characters are kept artificially happy with drugs."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(game)- omnithought, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Man, I haven't thought about that since high school. Well played!
- KamikazeeDriver, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Did they infuse THC in the mouse's DNA?
- caddar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1isn't richard simmons already taking something like that?
- adamjordanevans, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When am i gonna be able to give it to my wife???
- gcubed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well isn't this exactly the kind of research one would expect to come out of the University of Nice?
- Hellion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF189-Keep_on_Truckin.png#179
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