Subscribe by EmailI iz in ur DNA, litn up ur fur
December 15, 2007 by Chip | 4 commentsRebounding from the embarrassing discovery in 2005 that breakthrough cloning experiments performed by Hwang Woo-Suk were fraudulently misrepresented, look what those clever South Koreans have been up to now: cloned cats that glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light. Xinhua has pictures that are supposedly handout photos from the South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology, but don’t appear to be available elsewhere online.
The purpose of these black-light felines is to create more than just a cute parlor trick. The process used to introduce the genes that are included in the clones (in this case, a gene that produces a red fluorescent protein) could be used to introduce genes responsible for various genetic diseases as well, thus producing tailor-made laboratory test animals to be used in developing a cure or treatment.
Does this add a new wrinkle to the debate over the use of laboratory test animals? If you create them yourself expressly for that purpose, does that mitigate or increase your responsibility for any suffering they may undergo?
- Scientists create glow-in-the-dark dog
- Science Is Sexy: DNA You Say?
- Viking DNA extracted from 1,000-year-old skeletons
- Cell phone modded to detect diseases
This is horrible
Hi KJ, do you object to the genetic engineering, the use of laboratory test animals, the shade of red, my writing, or all of the above?
I don’t normally like cats… but i am willing to make an exception if i can get one that glows. I wonder what variety of colors they can come in. Chip will you please get off KJ’s shoulder already (sorry, couldn’t resist)
:lol: