Washington, Sep 30  The ability to manipulate songbird genes may yield secrets of vocal learning and how nerve cells (neurons) are replaced.

For the first time, researchers have devised a way to alter the genes of the zebra finch, one of a handful of social animals that learn to "speak" by imitating their fellows.

You can learn a lot from an animal. By manipulating the DNA of mice, flies, frogs and worms, scientists have discovered a great deal about the genes and molecules behind many of life's essential processes.

These basic functions often work about the same in people as they do in "model" animals.

"The roadblock had been that you couldn't manipulate the genes," says Fernando Nottebohm, professor animal behaviour at The Rockefeller University, who conducted the research.

"Ultimately, you have to understand how things are working at the most basic molecular level, and this will take our research there."

After decades of studying the behaviour and anatomy of vocal learning, scientists will be able to use the technique to explore vocal learning at the molecular level.

The new tool may also reveal secrets about exactly how, when and why some neurons are replaced in the adult brain, says a Rockefeller release.

These findings were reported online in PNAS Early Edition.(IANS)