Cloned cats glow red in the dark

 

Last updated at 14:46pm on 12th December 2007 Comments (4)

Cat's eyes are no longer the only things about them that glow in the dark, after scientists cloned a fluorescent feline.

South Korean Kong Il-Keun's team cloned cats after modifying a gene to change their skin colour.

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One of the cats glows red under the ultraviolet light

 

The two Turkish Angora cats now glow red when exposed to ultraviolet light. The scientists believe the process could be used to develop treatments for human genetic diseases and could help reproduce rare animals.

To clone the cats, Kong's team used skin cells of the mother cat. They modified its genes to make them fluorescent by using a virus, which was transplanted into the ova. The ova were then implanted into the womb of the donor cat. Four kittens were born but two died during the caesarean section.

"This technology can be applied to clone animals suffering from the same diseases as humans," the leading scientist, Kong said.

"It will also help develop stemcell treatments," he said, noting that cats have 250 kinds of genetic diseases that affect humans as well.

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South Korea's bio-engineering industry suffered a setback after a much-touted achievement by cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk turned out to have been faked.

The government banned Hwang from research using human eggs after his claims that he created the first human stem cells through cloning were ruled to be bogus last year.

cool

Ugh..that's creepy.

Maybe it's just the pink bits (around the ears, and eyes and pink nose) that are reflective of the light. :dozey:

Any who, evil bastards need to leave the kitties alone! :angry:

Um....cool or something...

 

No, thats just creepy and its cruelty to animals!

Huh. I undestand the usefulness of the research, but it still bothers me. These cats look so...empty.:shocked2:

Any who, evil bastards need to leave the kitties alone! :angry:

Agreed, I hate animal testing, seems so cruel. :(

^i'm not pro animal testing, but its hard to not enjoy glow-in-the dark cats

If either of my cast start glowing in the dark, I'll faint!:lol:

i wish my dog glowed in the dark, then if i was walking in a dark room i would definately not trip on him:P