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01-29-2008, 07:12 AM | #1 |
Currently Suspended! Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Coco's World
Posts: 1,341
| Strange Creature Immune to Pain Ok am I the only one having an issue here. And trying to figure out why people are pouring acid on an animal to see if it feels pain? As vulnerable as naked mole rats seem, researchers now find the hairless, bucktoothed rodents are invulnerable to the pain of acid and the sting of chili peppers. ADVERTISEMENT A better understanding of pain resistance in these sausage-like creatures could lead to new drugs for people with chronic pain, scientists added. Naked mole rats live in cramped, oxygen-starved burrows some six feet underground in central East Africa. Unusually, they are cold-blooded — which, as far as anyone knows, is unique among mammals. "They're the nicest, sweetest animals I've ever worked with — they look frightening, but they're very gentle," said neurobiologist Thomas Park at the University of Illinois at Chicago Scientists knew the mole rats were quite sensitive to touch — perhaps to help replace their almost useless eyes. After probing their skin, Park and his colleagues unexpectedly discovered the rodents lacked the chemical Substance P, which causes the feeling of burning pain in mammals. Acid test The researchers discovered that when unconscious mole rats had their paws injected with a slight dose of acid, "about what you'd experience with lemon juice," Park said, as well as some capsaicin — the active ingredient of chili peppers — the rodents showed no pain. "Their insensitivity to acid was very surprising," Park told LiveScience. "Every animal tested — from fish, frogs, reptiles, birds and all other mammals — every animal is sensitive to acid." To explore their pain resistance further, the researchers used a modified cold sore virus to carry genes for Substance P to just one rear foot of each tested rodent. Park and his colleagues found the DNA restored the naked mole rats' ability to feel the burning sensation other mammals experience from capsaicin. "They'd pull their foot back and lick it," Park said. Other feet remained impervious to the sting of capsaicin. "Capsaicin is very specific for exciting the fibers that normally have Substance P," Park added. "They're not the fibers that respond to a pinprick or pinch, but the ones that respond after an injury or burn and produce longer-lasting pain." Curiously, the researchers found that mole rats remained completely insensitive to acids, even with the Substance P genes. This suggests there is a fundamental difference in how their nerves respond to such pain. "Acid acts on the capsaicin receptor and on another family of receptors called acid-sensitive ion channels," Park said. "Acid is not as specific as capsaicin. The mole rat is the only animal that shows completely no response to acid." Why so insensitive? Scientists theorize naked mole rats evolved this insensitivity to acid due to underground living. The rodents exhale high levels of carbon dioxide, and in such tight, poorly ventilated spaces it builds up in tissues, making them more acidic. In response, the mole rats became desensitized to acid. "To give you an idea of what they experience, we normally all breathe in carbon dioxide levels of less than 0.1 percent. If people are exposed to an air mixture with as low as 5 percent carbon dioxide, we'll feel a sharp, burning, stinging sensation in our eyes and nose," Park said. "We hypothesize that naked mole rats live in up to 10 percent carbon dioxide." Researcher Gary Lewin, a neuroscientist at the Max Delbrück Institute for Molecular Medicine in Germany, noted, "People may say, 'So what — it's weird, but what has it to do with human pain?' I think that is wrong, unimaginative and short sighted." Lewin noted that all vertebrate pain-receptor systems "are built in a highly similar way, so the mole rat may tell us how you can unbuild the system." Help for people Specifically, Park noted this research adds to existing knowledge about Substance P. "This is important specifically to the long-term, secondary-order inflammatory pain. It's the pain that can last for hours or days when you pull a muscle or have a surgical procedure," he explained. As such, these findings might shed new light on chronic pain. Park said, "We're learning which nerve fibers are important for which kinds of pain, so we'll be able to develop new strategies and targets." Lewin added, "We really do not understand the molecular mechanism of acid sensing in humans, although it is thought to be pretty important in inflammatory pain. An animal that naturally lacks such a mechanism may help us identify what the mechanism actually is." Park next plans to study distantly related animals that dwell in similar circumstances, such as the Mexican free-tailed bat and the Alaskan marmot, which both spend large amounts of time in high carbon dioxide caves or burrows. "How are they surviving down there? It'd be interesting if we saw some parallels there with the naked mole rats," Park said. The scientists detailed their findings online Jan. 28 in the journal PLoS Biology. |
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01-29-2008, 07:15 AM | #2 |
Currently Suspended! Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Coco's World
Posts: 1,341
| As ugly as they are why pour acid or the sting of chili peppers on them? Thats just cruel and inhumaine. |
01-29-2008, 07:59 AM | #3 |
Gina, (Lexi's Mommy) Donating Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: LONG ISLAND,NY
Posts: 10,455
| omg!!!!!! how terrible is that
__________________ Gina & Lexi CLICK HERE for our Photo Album ... |
01-29-2008, 08:02 AM | #4 |
Donating YT 7000 Club Member | I saw that before. It makes me sick. Just because its not showing that it feels pain, doesn't mean it isn't. and even if it doesn't, they shouldn't be doing that. Its like some people don't have feeling in their hands, but its STILL harmful for them to stick their hand in fire. What would posses them to make them think "I wonder what this animal will do if we tried to put it in extreme amounts of pain?" Its just SICK and AWFUL.
__________________ Megan "I have my dreams, I have made plans." - The Pirate Queen All Gave Some; Some Gave All |
01-29-2008, 11:04 AM | #5 |
Donating YT 5000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: texas
Posts: 5,272
| I was just talking to my daughter about this this morning. It made me sick to my stomach to even think of that poor creature. Who would even think of pouring acid on a living thing??????
__________________ Decide To Make It A Good Day |
01-29-2008, 11:10 AM | #6 |
Lovin my Pixie Pooh Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
Posts: 3,510
| It's WRONG imo...and I think they are rather cute! poor little things
__________________ This Little Girl Has Stolen My Heart! Every Dog Should Have a Tail To Tell.. "I'm a Yorkiestalker"! |
01-29-2008, 11:13 AM | #7 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Chicago
Posts: 3,145
| thank you!
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01-29-2008, 11:17 AM | #8 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Chicago Suburbs
Posts: 3,306
| They are trying to find ways to CURE pain. They said it did not respond to an acid about as strong as lemon juice. It didn't say they stuck their hand in a fire...
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01-29-2008, 11:52 AM | #9 |
Mojo, LilyGrace & Me Donating Member Moderator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: cuddling with my babies<3
Posts: 17,329
| Did they pour acid on it or chili powder stuff? It is almost so ugly that it is cute!
__________________ Hi I'm Jenn Mom to..... Mojo,LilyGrace & DD Kate RIP Mojo FOREVER in our hearts! |
01-29-2008, 01:05 PM | #10 |
Donating YT 7000 Club Member | I was giving an example. What I meant in my first post was if the person who had no feeling in their hand stuck their own hand in fire, their hand would still burn. It can still harm their body just because they don't feel anything. I'll tone it down. If a person with no feeling in their hands were to touch a hot pan, it could still hurt their skin - they just don't feel it. Its dangerous, cruel, and wrong. IMO.
__________________ Megan "I have my dreams, I have made plans." - The Pirate Queen All Gave Some; Some Gave All Last edited by MeganS; 01-29-2008 at 01:06 PM. |
01-29-2008, 01:51 PM | #11 |
BANNED! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manhattan Beach
Posts: 460
| I heard about this from a friend who works at the FDA. They are working on a local pain anesthetic eventually using cells from these animals that are human grade. |
01-29-2008, 03:21 PM | #12 |
I Love My Lil' Punkin's Donating Member | I read that this morning online and thought the exact same thing...how AWFUL it was for them to do that to that poor creature I don't care WHAT it is, or how it looks...it is a living, breathing creature and what they did is just wrong
__________________ Mommy Loves Stedman and Tatum! They have us wrapped around their little paws! |
01-29-2008, 03:31 PM | #13 |
Love My Li'l Lucy Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Southern California
Posts: 6,700
| I don't care what it is for it makes me angry to think of anything being subjected to pain
__________________ Kathy and Lil' Lucy and Jammies Rest in Peace my Sweet Buster |
01-29-2008, 04:55 PM | #14 |
I heart Sugar Donating Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Florida
Posts: 7,373
| I try my very hardest not to buy products that have been tested on animals or even products made by companies who test on animals but... I suppose there is a need for animal testing for drug purposes. My daughter did a report on animal testing and there are alternatives and she will argue all day that animal testing is unnecessary even in medicine (and in some cases she's probably right) but I suspect it's a necessary evil. I hate hearing what they go through though. We do have the power to show non-drug related companies what we think by not supporting them. I have a link to a great list, if anyones interested give me a PM and I'll send it to you.
__________________ "If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." — St. Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226 |
01-29-2008, 05:33 PM | #15 | |
BANNED! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manhattan Beach
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