An unexpected chemosensor pathway for innate fear behavior against predator odor

(University of Tsukuba) Innate behaviors are genetically encoded, but their underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. University of Tsukuba researchers conducted a large-scale forward genetics screening and detected an unexpected chemosensor pathway. The work establishes the first forward genetics screen to uncover the molecular mechanism of innate fear, a basic emotion and evolutionarily conserved survival mechanism.