Then there is researcher Peter Fong, who has given new meaning to the
expression "happy as a clam." The Gettysburg College biologist stumbled
onto the fact that molluscs reproduce at 10 times their normal rate if
Prozac is dumped in the water.
Fong was pursuing research on the basic nervous system of fingernail clams
when he discovered that if he dumped the antidepressant into the water, the
clams would start reproducing madly.
"It's a piece of wonderful science and it sounds utterly ridiculous at the
same time," Abrahams said.
Traffic was backed up almost to a standstill this morning as I drove to
work. I turned on the radio to listen to my favourite rock station but they
were playing Rockabilly which I absolutely detest.
So I decided to ram the dial for something better and happened to tune in
a local talk show host who was ranting about government waste of funds on
useless research projects.
He was objecting to congress funding a project to a team in Gettysburg, PA
, that was feeding clams and other molluscs large doses of Prozac to
determine its effect on these sea dwellers. He cited this as an example of
government waste.
I immediately phoned him on my cellular phone and found myself on the air.
The host was very unhappy when I told him that this research was very
important as it was essential to determine if Prozac was effective as a
mussel relaxant.
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