Scientists Create Pigs That Glow in the Dark
- 10 years ago
Scientists in China tweaked some pig embryos so when the piglets were born they would glow green. Using a technique developed by specialists at the University of Hawaii, each was injected with jellyfish DNA with the intention of rendering the little pigs fluorescent.
Scientists in China tweaked some pig embryos so when the piglets were born they would glow green.
Using a technique developed by specialists at the University of Hawaii, each was injected with jellyfish DNA with the intention of rendering the little pigs fluorescent.
The experiment was a success, and now the babies have a greenish glow when placed under a black light.
The green pigs are just one in a series of efforts to come up with less expensive and more effective medications.
Said one of the researchers, "[For] patients who suffer from hemophilia and they need the blood-clotting enzymes in their blood, we can make those enzymes a lot cheaper in animals rather than a factory that will cost millions of dollars to build."
The litter is a step towards that goal as the ability to implant specific genetic markers in larger animals was proved to be possible.
Adding to the success of the experiment is that the life spans of the animals were not compromised, and each is expected to live out a full life.
Previously, the method has only been tested on smaller specimens like rabbits.
Scientists in China tweaked some pig embryos so when the piglets were born they would glow green.
Using a technique developed by specialists at the University of Hawaii, each was injected with jellyfish DNA with the intention of rendering the little pigs fluorescent.
The experiment was a success, and now the babies have a greenish glow when placed under a black light.
The green pigs are just one in a series of efforts to come up with less expensive and more effective medications.
Said one of the researchers, "[For] patients who suffer from hemophilia and they need the blood-clotting enzymes in their blood, we can make those enzymes a lot cheaper in animals rather than a factory that will cost millions of dollars to build."
The litter is a step towards that goal as the ability to implant specific genetic markers in larger animals was proved to be possible.
Adding to the success of the experiment is that the life spans of the animals were not compromised, and each is expected to live out a full life.
Previously, the method has only been tested on smaller specimens like rabbits.