Dogs that glow in the dark???!!
The four cloned glowing puppies!!!
I have written quite a few entries regarding dog cloning and it is truly an amazing occurence. However, another unique cloning event has taken place the result has resulted in dogs that can glow in the dark. Yes, dogs that glow in the dark!!
The “glow in the dark” dogs were engineered in South Korea, the country that has been at the forefront of the cloning discoveries. These dogs would be the first where
transgenic dogs are carrying fluorescent genes causing their mysterious glow. In the U.S., Japan and Europe, fluorescent mice and pigs have been cloned, but this is the first time dogs have been cloned with this remarkable trait from modified genes.
At Seoul National University, professor Lee Byeong-chun, head of the research team had his team take skin cells from a beagle, inserted fluorescent genes into them and put them into eggs before implanted them into the womb of a surrogate mother, a local mixed breed. Six female beagles were born in December 2007 through a cloning with a gene that produces a red fluorescent protein that make them glow, he said. Two died, but the four others survived.
This is not simply an attempt to do something ghoulish or freaky. The cloning of these dogs through gene modification could have some great implications for finding new treatments for genetic diseases such as Parkinson’s and others.
While a glowing dog may not be what you would think you want…think of the benefits. When the dog has to go out to do its business in the middle of the night, you wouldn’t have to turn lights on outside to see the dog, as you would be able to watch their travels as they glow!!!
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