Neuroscientists in Texas, apparently fed up with years of being called geeks and given wedgies, have reportedly located a gene in the brains of mice which, when turned off, prevent the mice from being intimidated by their bigger, more aggressive peers. What originally started as one scientist’s displacement of aggression on mice—reportedly by dressing some up in tiny lab coats and then putting them in a cage with mice known to bully—turned into a National Institute of Mental Health funded study, the results of which were published this week in the journal Science.

The University of Texas researchers decided to create mice lacking a gene that produced a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. BDNF is known to play a key role in memory and helps regulate production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is highly active in the nucleus accumbens [a structure deep in the brain involved in identifying emotionally important stimuli in the environment]. According to the researchers, mice lacking the BDNF gene showed no fear of socially dominant mice that had intimidated them previously—and no fear of strangers.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill hailed the discovery, with many Democrats—such as Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut—expressing strong interest in being research subjects in the initial human trials of the procedure. Representative Tom DeLay, R-Texas, promptly called them all “a bunch of weenies.�