Research on misleading mice because of 'male smell'

For more than a century, mice have been used as test subjects in most experiments. However, a recent study by Canadian scientists has surprised many people to point out, the smell of men can cause fear for laboratory rats, thereby causing deviations in Experimental results.

When conducting tests on mice, experts at the McGill University in Montreal (Canada) discovered that researchers' gender could significantly affect the results of tests that hurt mice.

Accordingly, the mice felt less painful when the person conducting the experiment was female, on the contrary they would be more frightened, stressed, and painful if the technician conducted the experiment with male sex.

To get the results, psychology professor Jeffrey Mogil and colleagues at McGill University conducted experiments on mice. They allowed researchers to inject mice and monitor stress and pain shown in each stage. Mogil and his team found a significant reduction in pain when a female researcher conducted the experiment.

Meanwhile, the male researcher 's presence raises the mouse body temperature and hormone levels of corticosterone - stress hormones to a high level.

This is also the case when the research women wear back the T-shirt worn by their male colleague. It is the body odor of men that causes stress with the experimental mice.

According to experts, it is very likely that testosterone or male hormones have caused fear in rodents . However, researchers are still working on the test to find the most accurate reason.

The research leader, Professor Robert Sorge said: "Our findings will make many scientific laboratories have more panel and more carefully selected participants. Along with that, the research results sheet. It is also necessary to specify the gender of the participant conducting the experiment ".

The study was published in Nature Methods.