The MacArthur and the Mole
Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Kenneth Catania's animal research is done not with ho-hum rats or mice but instead with less-studied (and more exotic) small mammals, focusing on how their unusual sensory systems work. His studies of the star-nosed mole-a tiny, nearly blind, underground-dwelling wetland beast with an odd schnoz-last week earned him a MacArthur Fellowship. More commonly known as the "genius grant," the award will give the 40-year-old Catania $500,000 over the next five years to use as he sees fit. Most likely, that means continuing to research his subjects, which are more than mere curiosities. As alien as the star-nosed mole looks, its brain is helping unlock some of the mysteries of how the human mind is organized.
Where were you when you found out about the MacArthur award?
I got a phone call at work from [Fellows Program Director] Dan Socolow. I thought I was going to be asked to review grants and was thinking, "Wow, do I have the time?" When he told me why he called, I spilled my drink onto my desk and on my pants. Luckily, it was water. I was basically stunned and speechless.
How did you end up working with moles?
I started out as a volunteer working in the small mammal department of the National Zoo while I was an undergraduate [studying zoology], and eventually I was hired for a research position. I was assigned to collect shrews and star-nosed moles, which are these legendary, bizarre animals that many people wondered about but few people had studied or knew much about. I went to Pennsylvania for a brief lesson, and I got sent out with a bunch of traps into the middle of nowhere. It was like snipe hunting. Then in grad school [in neuroscience], it seemed to be an obvious thing to look at sensory systems of that species and others.
What makes this mole so interesting?
For one thing, its nose. It has a sense of touch even though it's a nose-the star part [with its 22 tentacles] is akin to the outside of our nose. But it is the most sensitive touch organ on the planet: It has five times the number of nerve receptors [in an area the size of a fingertip] as an entire human hand.
Why has the mole evolved in this way?
It appears that they're specialized to eat very small things, like insect larvae. If you're going to eat small things, you have to find and eat them quickly to keep up with your metabolism. So they're an extreme in the biological world.
And extremely quick at the dinner table, as well-your lab has shown that they take 230 milliseconds to identify a piece of food as edible and eat it.
Yes-after we published a paper on their feeding habits, I got a call from the Guinness Book of World Records and later got a big certificate showing that they're the fastest eaters in the world. It's not a very scholarly thing, but I think it's still a childhood fantasy to get something into the Guinness Book!
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