Chinese scientists have created glow-in-the-dark piglets that are infused with jellyfish DNA.
The scientists at the South China Agricultural University were able to successfully create 10 piglets that glow green under black fluorescent light, by adopting a technique developed by the University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine.
The scientists reveal that they were able to make the glpw-in-the-dark piglets by injecting fluorescent protein from jellyfish DNA into pig embryos.
This is not the first time that scientists have created glow-in-the-dark animals. Earlier in 2013, scientists in Turkey created bunnies that can glow in the dark.
Scientists are testing the glowing animals for a purpose and not just as for amusement. The main goal of the research is to find an efficient and cheap way of getting a beneficial gene into humans that can help treat several genetic disorders in the near term. The research will also help create less costly and more efficient medicines.
Dr Stefan Moisyadi, a bioscientist with the University of Hawaii's Institute for Biological Research says that the technique may benefit people who suffer from diseases such as haemophilia, a rare blood clotting disease.
"[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," Dr. Moisyadi said. "We can make [blood-clotting] enzymes a lot cheaper in animals rather than a factory that will cost millions of dollars to build," said Moisyadi.
The green tint indicates that the fluorescent genetic material injected into the pig embryos has been incorporated into the animal's natural make up.
Moisyadi explains that the green-glowing research animals have had no adverse effect on them by the injection of fluorescent jellyfish DNA into the pig embryos. The jellyfish DNA has been incorporated by the piglets in their natural make-up and they are expected to have the same life expectancy as other pigs.
"The green is only a marker to show that it's working easily," added Moisyadi.
Check out the video posted by the Chinese scientists of the glow-in-the-dark piglets, which look like other piglets under normal artificial light.
