Apparently the media love the idea of worms that can't get drunk. The work by Scott Davis, Luisa Scott, Kevin Hu, and Jon Pierce-Shimomura, that was recently published in the The Journal of Neuroscience, has gone viral and is appearing all over the web. The worms were created using a mutation found by Scott Davis. You can read the original press release here.
Here are are a few of the more notable places where this research has appeared:
- Alcalde: http://alcalde.texasexes.org/2014/07/ut-researchers-engineer-mutant-worms-that-cant-get-drunk/
- Gizmodo: http://gizmodo.com/scientists-engineered-mutant-worms-that-cant-get-drunk-1605576154
- Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17/worms-alcoholics_n_5595741.html?ir=Weird+News
- IFLScience: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/mutation-stops-worms-getting-drunk
- Newsy/Austin American-Statesman: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/science/how-mutant-worms-could-help-alcoholics/nggsg/
- Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/16/us-usa-alcohol-worms-idUSKBN0FL2QJ20140716
- San Antonio Express-News: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Worms-may-hold-a-solution-to-alcohol-problems-5625577.php
- Science: http://news.sciencemag.org/sifter/2014/07/mutant-worms-can-t-get-drunk
- Science 2.0: http://www.science20.com/news_articles/why_worms_dont_get_drunk-140625
- The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/15/5902771/scientists-made-worms-that-cant-get-drunk
- Voice of America: http://www.voanews.com/content/mutant-worm-could-fight-alcoholism/1960317.html
- Wired: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-07/16/drunk-worms-and-alcoholism
The press release was even translated into some other languages, such as Finnish, Italian, and Romanian:
- Helsingen Sanomat in Finnish: http://www.hs.fi/tiede/Tutkimus+Mutanttimadoista+voi+synty%C3%A4+t%C3%A4ydellinen+alkoholil%C3%A4%C3%A4ke/a1405479370436
- Zazoom in Italian: http://zazoom.it/news/Caenorhabditis-elegans--Il-verme-mutante-per-bere-senza-ubriacarsi-29629.asp?id=29629
- Jurnalul.ro in Romanian: http://jurnalul.ro/stiri/externe/oamenii-de-stiinta-au-creat-viermele-care-nu-se-imbata-cercetarea-menita-sa-combata-efectele-alcoolismului-673092.html
The work also caught the eye of comedian Stephen Colbert, who tweeted about it:
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