HHMI Undergraduate Researcher Turns Up the Heat on Hibernation

Space Ref ^ | Wednesday, February 1, 2006

[jmcenanly]

Smith conducted the research as an undergraduate in Williams' biologist Steven J. Swoap's laboratory, as part of the college's HHMI-supported undergraduate science education program. Steven J. Swoap

The work on torpor began in Swoap's lab when he observed that knock-out mice that cannot synthesize the neurotransmitters norepinephrine or epinephrine do not enter torpor when they fast.

In 2004, Smith joined Swoap's research team as an HHMI summer research fellow. Up to now, most research on torpor focused on which animals enter the state. Some scientists are already thinking about the human applications of torpor research, Swoap added.

[ClearCase_guy]

See Dick.
See Dick Run.
Run Dick! Run!

See Dick's mouse.
See the knock-out mice that cannot synthesize the neurotransmitters norepinephrine or epinephrine do not enter torpor when they fast.
Fast knock-out mice! Fast!

[Damifino]

Any info on where to be a research volunteer? I could use a good 4 months sleep.

[an amused spectator]

So, what language is this in?

[an amused spectator]

Oh - I get it. This is one of those discipline-specific terms, not meant to be understood at a casual glance by the uninitiated:

"In particular, a knock-out mouse is one in which a gene has been inactivated on purpose through genetic engineering techniques."

[razorback-bert]

So, what language is this in?

A rare dialect of jargon.