The eternal struggle

Man's inhumanity to mouse, or what to do with too much time (and technology) on your hands.

http://www.baynesolutions.net/mouse/FirstContact.aspx

Note: Contains some four-letter words and depictions of violence against mice.

Gourmet Mice

Police have seized 2,010 rounds of Parmigiano-Reggiano valued at over $1,000,000 from a warehouse in Parma, Italy. The cheese, nearly 80 tons of it, is being evaluated to determine if it is fit for human consumption after an infestation of mice was discovered. At least 29 of the cheeses had mouse tooth marks.

Grate that on your pasta and eat it.

Sources: here, here, and here.

Glow in the Dark Mice

This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to scientists who took a fluorescent protein from jellyfish and developed a technique to tag proteins with it, "shedding light," so to speak, on countless biological processes. One of those scientists, Osamu Shimomura, writes here about the early days of that research, cutting up jellyfish and extracting the protein.

And here is an example of an application of that technique, with some surprising findings about stem cells:

Happy Birthday Mickey!

The most famous mouse of all made his debut on November 18, 1928, in Steamboat Willie.

Walt Disney, who provided Mickey's first voice, had originally intended to call him Mortimer.

Imagine the theme song:

M-O-R-T Tea and scones anyone?
I-M-E-R Are you sure?

Page 56 Meme

Thanks to QuakerDave, I finally have a meme I can do.

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions on your blog (or Facebook wall).
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Here's mine:

"Stereocilia increase the surface area of the epithelium for absorption."

Oh, what a fascinating life I lead...

Tag, you're it.

It's Alive!

Scientists in Japan have succeeded in producing healthy cloned mice from mice that had been frozen for up to 16 years.

Usually, when you clone an animal from a frozen specimen, that specimen has been intentionally frozen for future cloning. That means great care was taken to prevent the cells from rupturing and a cryoprotective agent (like polyvinylpyrrolidone or glycerol) was added to keep the membranes intact.

In this study, there was no cryoprotectant and the cells were not viable. The investigators managed to produce their clones using just the nuclear material, and not living cells.

This means that it may be possible to produce living clones from frozen specimens of animals that are endangered, or even extinct.

Like the woolly mammoth.


Here's the paper.

Lab humans

Remember those mice on Mount Everest?

There may be a good reason for them to limit their mountain-climbing expeditions. It might shrink their brains.

Scientists have studied human mountain climbers and found reduced volume and density of white and gray matter in areas of the brain associated with motor activity.

It is not known if this phenomenon is relevant to mouse health, but it suggests that mice should use caution when participating in high-altitude activities.