Research probably funded by social conservatives
July 11, 2004
…Prairie voles are among the nearly 5% of mammals that mate for life. Think mallard ducks and many humans. Meadow voles, a related species, are libertine swingers. Think dogs and many humans.
Male meadow voles do not wear wedding rings and frequently forage for sexual partners, any receptive vole partners. They will mate with multiple partners multiple times, even outside Hollywood.
Scientists at Emory University in Atlanta inserted a kind of loyalty gene from the brains of male prairie voles that were reliably going steady into the brains of 11 promiscuous meadow voles. This created a startling vole reversal. Suddenly, party voles became soul mates, staying at home, helping around the nest, cuddling, even cleaning. Really.
Researchers reason that the gene allows the swinger voles to learn to associate the pleasurable feelings of sex with one particular mate, while their less-educated meadow vole cousins associate the pleasurable feelings with any female vole. Obviously, humans, being superior beings who live by vows and oaths, have no need for a loyalty gene. Though much of the world outside that university laboratory was totally unaware of the ongoing difficulties and implications of vole infidelity, the new research remains fascinating. Someday it might actually help cure human afflictions like autism, which hinders the ability to bond and form relationships.
