Quote of the Day
In a quest to understand complex speech, scientists inserted what’s been dubbed a human “language gene” into mice. Remarkably, the genetic tweak had a profound impact on the little rodents’ ability to squeak, revealing astonishing clues about the evolution of vocal communication.
Mouse pups that had the human version of the language gene showed different vocalization patterns from their buddies with the usual version mice have. When calling for their mother, their squeaks were higher pitched and featured a different selection of sounds than usual.
Tom Hale
May 13, 2025
Scientists Put A Human “Language Gene” Into Mice And Curious Things Unfolded
While I find this interesting and quite remarkable, I also find it a little creepy. It’s not that I worry about mice talking to me as I am setting trap for them or anything. I’m not even sure why it bothers me. But it does.
What if they put this gene in chimps and/or other apes?
Thoughts?
“What if they put this gene in chimps and/or other apes?
Thoughts?”
Yeah. I saw that movie. Didn’t end well.
And why are there 10 sequels to “Planet of the Apes”????
They weren’t that good.
Through in what’s going on in AI?
Glad I’m short.
I don’t believe everything I see in the movies.
Yeah, but you can totally believe any movie with Heston in it.
It’s not what you and I believe. More what they train brainwashed people to believe.
Years ago I had a kid tell me he thought G.I. Jane was real. Now days I think we should be giving the East German womans swim team their trophies back.
Without ethics, morals? I’m thinking brain implants, AI, and genetics, are going to make a future I’m glad I won’t see.
Improving the speech of mice is not the goal here.
I’m pretty sure deep down they’re channeling Dr. Mengele.
And this bit of Island of Dr Moreau’s genetic engineering advances our understanding of what, exactly? They claim the transgenic mice communicate differently claiming the inserted human gene is responsible. Good, fine. That changes what?
I’m not a science luddite but why did American taxpayers pay to do this, and how many labs have replicated the result?
In “The Probability Broach” (his first, and brilliant, novel), L. Neil Smith suggested the notion that a creature should have civil rights (“human rights”) if it is able to insist on those rights and know what he is insisting on. In that story, various ape species had learned to speak (with mechanical help), as did several cetaceans, so all were viewed as “people” and not animals.
That’s similar to Descartes’ statement of ‘I think, therefore I am’.
If a creature has the self-awareness or consciousness to think, feel, and perceive the world around them in beyond an instinctual manner – they ‘exist’ on a higher level.
What’s the Robert Heinlein short story, “Jerry was a man”?
He had self awareness and consciousness and was able to insist to his creators that because of those qualities, he was a man, the same as them.
“What if they put this gene in chimps and/or other apes?”
I suspect they already have it.
In a book from 1978 titled Wordplay, what happens when people think, the author Peter Farb, included a paragraph about a chimpazee at a zoo that repeated certain sounds in which he appeared to be complaining about the weather. That was played back to him and he rushed out of the . . . Cave is the most appropriate word I can think of now; to look at the sky.
They don’t yet seem to use language to talk about the future or their past, or to try to persuade others to do what they want, nor say they came from poor but honest people, or even to lament about their misspent youth, but with the work done with Koko and others, these may also ultimately occur.
It seems to me that there is a concerted effort of late to intentionally blur the distinctions of being “human”. Part of the “transhumanist agenda”, doncha know.
As artificial “human” [fill-in-the-blank] progressed, we discovered the “uncanny valley”. It appears that we have an innate ability (need) to flush out things that are trying to trick us into thinking that they are human.
I get the unease about this. The idea of genetically altering animals to communicate like humans feels a bit like we’re playing God. What if these changes have unintended consequences on their behavior or ecology? Definitely an area that needs careful thought.
Language is the framework for intelligence, for sentience. It facilities deeper thought, planning, and reflection.
There are few species that I would consider sentient or potentially sentient. Boosting a species potential for language also increases their potential for sentience.
It’s the Secret of NIMH.
Well, as long as they don’t escape from the lab, I’m sure it’ll be fine.
*cough* COVID-19 *cough*
Another instance where the phrase “just because you can do a thing doesn’t mean you should do that thing” is appropriate…
The Utopians and Trans-Humanists Communists and Globalists (but I repeat myself) are into playing God. They think they ARE gods. They think their words create reality if they just believe it hard enough. They are really Satanists who want to create Heaven here on Earth, but only God can do that, and their crude and inverted logic will make them create Hell instead.
Careful, traditional breeding programs to make better plants or animal breeds is great. Hybridizing plants, like triticale from rye and wheat, isn’t too bad, and is likely OK if done carefully. Totally artificial transgenic things like flounder genes into tomatoes to prevent frost damage is likely a contributor to the explosion of “food allergies” and other chronic problems; for example, a lot of people in the US with “gluten intolerance” can eat pasta and bread in Europe just fine, where they don’t allow GMO foods (but then, they also don’t allow some of the pesticides, herbicides, dyes, and other chemicals into food either, so it’s not a “definitely all GMO” thing).
But human genes in Animals is going to result in some Godly smiting in due course, and you are quite right to be leery of it, as it’s playing god with our genes, and men are the Image of God, and I don’t see Him taking that sort of transgression against His image lightly. The squish feeling we get seeing it is a reflection of that.
I, for one, look forward to a mouse with a voice that sounds like Orson Welles:
https://youtu.be/1-_h8ABw7WY
“What if they put this gene in chimps and/or other apes?”
Perhaps they will eventually get around to putting that gene in humans; quite a few would benefit from it.