No More Animals!

I've now read two articles today alone that discuss the idea that animals have become more human-like, even to the point that some animals have cognitive awareness of self and can identify themselves in a mirror. Not just chimpanzees, which have forever been the only animals to display human-like behavior. Now scientists think that elephants might have the ability to identify themselves (read this article).

Yesterday I read an article about how a honeybees genome sequence is more similar to a humans than any other insect. I know that sounds extremely boring, but this article says "Understanding the bee genome might lead to important insights into common mental and brain disorders, such as depression, schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s disease. The bee genome also might provide an important window into immunity and aging." I suppose it's a bit like mice and the fact that we can use them in studies to see how humans might react to drugs and to diseases like cancer, but it's still pretty amazing that researchers can use the DNA of a bee to determine how illnesses can affect humans. Of course, keep in mind that the only insects to be sequenced so far are the mosquito and the fruit fly.

Is it only a matter of time before we realize that animals are smarter and more useful than we ever imaged? I don't think we're quite there yet, at least I don't want to admit that we might be, since I don't really have a huge affection for animals. But I think it's quite possible that we've underestimated the ability of animals.