Making Animals With Super-Brains Means One Thing: The Age of Clever Catgirls Grows Near

     We’ve already seen how the addition of the human gene MCPH1 have cause monkeys to develop a more human like brain including better memories and faster reactions.   Now the quest to create hyper-intelligent animal brains that aren’t just wired better, but bigger as well:

“During the study, Japanese and German researchers injected a gene called ARHGAP11B — which directs stem cells in the human brain — into the dark matter of marmoset fetuses, according to a release about the research.

“They found that the primates’ brains soon became more human-like by developing larger, more advanced neocortexes — the area that controls cognition and language, according to the study published in the journal Science in June.

“According to images released by the researchers, the modified monkey brains nearly doubled in size at around 100-days into gestation.

“‘We found indeed that the neocortex of the common marmoset brain was enlarged and the brain surface folded,’ said study author Michael Heide.

“The neocortex is the newest part of the brain to evolve — one sign that ARHGAP11B may have caused brain growth during human evolution, the researchers said.”

     Being able to create animal-human hybrid brains just means we are that much closer to achieving clever catgirls!

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