It's no secret that the institution of marriage is under threat in America, of all places, beset on all sides by the evils of boredom and irrelevancy and idiocy and you get the idea. And let's not forget the gays, right? Right? Just ask Hi Caliber. Anyhow, researchers at Emory University have taken some pretty bold steps toward understanding the secrets of monogamy, and it involves infusing the DNA of prairie voles with the gene that allows jellyfish to glow. Naturally. The voles were chosen because behavior-wise, they are not so dissimilar to us. They mate for life, share child-rearing duties, and even "cuddle," which is fantastic. And so:
The scientists are studying the genetic of monogamy, and voles serve as a model of human behaviors like cheating or mate competition. In this experiment, they've linked the glowing gene to a gene suspected to control their impulse to cheat on their mate. If you glow, you're not going to stray. But if you can't be seen in the dark, then the Ms. Vole might have reason to worry.
Well the possibilities here seem pretty encouraging. We've long awaited the arrival of elective genetic modification (we have yet to be presented with a compelling argument as to why this would not be the greatest thing ever. Ever wanted to dunk? Exactly). So despite the fact that scientists are hesitant to fully embrace all the implications of this research - they always are, aren't they - we feel confident that this is at least a step in the right direction, a direction in which we will all look like weird blue Avatar mutants but not cheat on each other ever again. Sounds good to us.
[via popsci]
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