Cat and mouse may never be the same. Japanese scientists say they‘ve used genetic engineering to create mice that show no fear of felines, a development that may shed new light on mammal behavior and the nature of fear itself.

“Mice are naturally terrified of cats, and usually panic or flee at the smell of one. But mice with certain nasal cells removed through genetic engineering didn‘t display any fear,” said research team leader Ko Kobayakawa.

Kobayakawa said his findings, published in the science magazine Nature last month, should help researchers shed further light on how the brain processes information about the outside world.

“People have thought mice are fearful of cats because cats prey on them, but that‘s not the case,” Kim said.

A mouse munched its way through thousands of pounds worth of cash after managing to find its way inside a cash machine in a bank in Estonia.

The animal was found inside the machine after a customer withdrew some money and got partly-eaten banknotes outside the bank in the capital Tallinn.

Bank security experts are investigating how the mouse managed to get into the machine.

Kristina Tamberg, spokeswoman for Hansapank Bank, said: ‘We have never heard of anything even remotely like this happening before.

‘At some stage over the weekend the chewed money jammed, and the mouse seems to have spent the rest of the weekend turning the notes into bedding. It probably was attracted by the warmth from the machine and decided to make itself at home.’