In what sounds like the opening scene to a midnight horror movie, scientists conducting a gene-editing experiment on hamsters wound up transforming the normally docile little creatures into ultra-aggressive monsters. The unsettling study was reportedly conducted by Georgia State University researchers who were working with the controversial CRISPR gene-editing technology to examine how biology effects social behavior. Specifically, they tweaked the genetic makeup of hamsters so that the diminutive animals lost the function of a hormone receptor responsible for regulating "phenomena ranging from pair bonding, cooperation, and social communication to dominance and aggression."
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