As reported in the journal Science, it seems researchers have had some very positive results using molecular therapy on mice. To carry out the experiment,  researchers had to find a way to make the mice depressed.  They did this by putting ordinarily sociable mice in cages with aggressive, bullying mice.

The sociable mice fought regularly with the bullies, and over a period of days became withdrawn and fearful of strange mice. Even when the bullies were removed, the depression stayed.

They cheered up when dosed with antidepressants for a month and were back to normal.

Deleting the molecule involved anesthetizing the mice, then injecting this very specific part of their brains with a virus that disabled the molecule.

They targeted a molecule in a part of the brain known to be related to sensations of pleasure and danger, said Olivier Berton of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, one of the report’s authors.

“We focused on this molecule in a region of the brain that people call the reward pathway, which people have studied a lot in relation to drugs that are abused,” Berton said.

Deleting the molecule from this part of the brain meant that the mice never got depressed and fearful, Berton said, even though conditions were set up that normally would make them run away and hide.

It sounds interesting but quite dangerous as well, we will keep our eye out for more test results from this type of therapy.