One-gene change makes mice neurotic

Forget the rhymes threatening their tails with a carving knife. These mice are so timid that they panic at a butter knife and possibly at butter.

Researchers at the Salk Institute and the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., have engineered mice that are hypersensitive to stress and display a mousy version of anxiety. The project suggests new targets for antidepressants and antianxiety drugs, says senior researcher Kuo-Fen Lee of Salk.