Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats

Whereas human pro-social behavior is often driven by empathic concern for another, it is unclear whether nonprimate mammals experience a similar motivational state. To test for empathically motivated pro-social behavior in rodents, we placed a free rat in an arena with a cagemate trapped in a restrainer. After several sessions, the free rat learned to intentionally and quickly open the restrainer and free the cagemate. Rats did not open empty or object-containing restrainers. They freed cagemates even when social contact was prevented. When liberating a cagemate was pitted against chocolate contained within a second restrainer, rats opened both restrainers and typically shared the chocolate. Thus, rats behave pro-socially in response to a conspecific's distress, providing strong evidence for biological roots of empathically motivated helping behavior.     

Bar Harbor investigation reveals no fraud

Reports of irregularities in research done by Karl Illmensee at the University of Geneva prompted an invesigation by Bar Harbor's Jackson Laboratory into collaborative work on embryo manipulation performed by Illmensee and its own researcher, Peter Hoppe. The committee appointed by Jackson Laboratory found no evidence of fraud, but recommended that Hoppe and Illmensee repeat two experiments, since neither had been replicated by other investigators or by Hoppe working alone.