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We Loved
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The Science Of Love (The Chemistry of Romance)
Chemistry of Love
Love Addiction and Monogamouse
Monogamous
Monogamouse Addicted to Love
Relax, Here's a Love Drug We Can All Use
WEEK OF LOVE / THE PHYSIOLOGY OF Love
WEEK OF LOVE / THE PHYSIOLOGY OF Love
Scientists Turn Up the Lights On Love
AUTISM & OXYTOCIN
MATING GAME
Paradox Of Our Times
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Monogamous? It may all be in your genes.
Roving rodents become faithful after DNA altered
By Steve Farrar Special to the Star (LONDON SUNDAY TIMES)
Toronto Star, P A1
February 08, 1999
TEXT:
LONDON - The tiny rodent has been nicknamed "monogamouse."
Scientists have investigated the chemistry of love and managed genetically to
engineer a mouse that stays faithful to one mate.
The normally feckless rodent became a more loyal lover after receiving a set of
genes from a prairie vole, which is renowned for its fidelity. It suggests that
a lifetime of dedication to one partner may be a matter of having the right
brain chemistry, which links love with addiction.
The scientists have found this is also true for one species of monogamous monkey
and for mankind, which might explain why some people irrationally remain in
destructive relationships. Dr. Thomas Insel, who led the research team at Emory
University in Atlanta, said: "The results so far suggest love is simply a form
of addiction that makes some animals form these lifelong pair bonds." He
believes this may be true of all the mammals that pursue lasting relationships -
about 3 per cent are monogamous while the rest are happy to mate with whoever is
available.
Insel's work has focused on the prairie vole, a North American rodent that
forms a lifelong bond during its first sexual encounter. From that moment on,
the voles stand by one another and raise their young together. The male will
aggressively defend his mate from any perceived rival and will choose her above
any other available female. "They are so faithful that if you remove their
long-term mate,
they will not accept a new one - 80 per cent of the time they continue to live
as widows and widowers," said Insel.
He discovered that two hormones - oxytocin, which plays a role in controlling
social behaviour, and vasopressin, which is linked with memory - were released
inside the rodent's brain at the instant the
bond was made. By artificially altering the levels of these hormones in the
laboratory, Insel could make the vole fall in love without mating or leave it
deaf to its natural calling.
Copyright Toronto Star 1999
COMPANY NAMES (Dialog Generated): Emory University
DESCRIPTORS: animal research genetics
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Meaning of Love
Home Work
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