Okay they've gone over the Edge!!

[Hamsters82]

www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9833107-7.html

Glow in the dark cats?

[pinky]

Not sure how this really advances mankind.

[Die Fledermaus]

Cloned kitties glow red

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Friday, December 14th 2007, 10:34 AM
The cloned cat on the left has a modified gene that makes the animal glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet rays, South Korean scientists say.
The cloned cat on the left has a modified gene that makes the animal glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet rays, South Korean scientists say.

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean scientists have cloned cats that glow red when exposed to ultraviolet rays, an achievement that could help develop cures for human genetic diseases, the Science and Technology Ministry said Friday.

Three Turkish Angora cats were born in January and February through cloning with a gene that produces a red fluorescent protein that makes them glow in dark. One died at birth, but the two others survived, the ministry said.

The ministry claimed it was the first time cats with modified genes have been cloned.

Scientists from Gyeongsang National University and Sunchon National University took skin cells from a cat and inserted the fluorescent gene into them before transplanting the genetically modified cells into eggs.

The development means other genes can also be inserted in the course of cloning, paving the way for producing lab cats with genetic diseases, including those of humans, to help develop new treatments, the ministry said.

“Cats have similar genes to those of humans,” said veterinary professor Kong Il-keun of Gyeongsang National University. “We can make genetically modified cats that can be used to develop new cures for genetic diseases.”

Keitaro Kato, a geneticist at Kinki University in western Japan who has cloned fish, said the research could be significant if it eventually helps treat people with hereditary diseases.

“People with genetic disorders usually have to receive treatment throughout their lives that is very hard on them,” Kato said. “If these results can help to make their lives easier, then I think it’s a wonderful thing.”

South Korea’s scientific reputation suffered a heavy blow after much-hailed stem-cell breakthroughs by scientist Hwang Woo-suk were found to be faked in late 2005. He remains on trial on fraud and other charges

[Die Fledermaus]

Here is something else that always seemed weird. In World War Two, in the pitch dark during night naval battles, torpedoes could sometimes be tracked visually by their wake. . . which softly glowed from marine fluorescence. I always wondered about that. The slower propellers of ships often had a somewhat similar effect.