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Green Pigs & Ham
I guess this means we’ll finally be able to eat green eggs and ham for real…?
Scientists in Taiwan say they have bred three pigs that “glow in the dark”.
They claim that while other researchers have bred partly fluorescent pigs, theirs are the only pigs in the world which are green through and through.
The pigs are transgenic, created by adding genetic material from jellyfish into a normal pig embryo.
The researchers hope the pigs will boost the island’s stem cell research, as well as helping with the study of human disease.
The scientists, from National Taiwan University’s Department of Animal Science and Technology, say that although the pigs glow, they are otherwise no different from any others.
Taiwan is not claiming a world first. Others have bred partially fluorescent pigs before; but the researchers insist the three pigs they have produced are better.
“Well, our green glowing pigs are better than yours - so there! Pppbblllppt!” Science is seriously going haywire, and this is only the very early stages of this kind of shit. Soon we’ll probably have transgenic otherkin running around too. Oh boy!
January 18th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
my question is, why are they making pigs glow in the dark in the first place? it’s not like you’re ever gonna have to find your pig in an unlit room at night. why can’t they make bats glow? or, better yet, make mosquitoes glow so we can see ‘em when they’re buzzing around our beds at night.
i can think of about a dozen things that would be better subjects for glow-in-the-dark experiments than pigs.
January 18th, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Yeah, I was wondering about that too. I think they’re using pigs probably because they have certain genetic similarities to humans. And they’re probably using glow in the dark genes because it’s a gene with a very obvious phenotype expression - so it’s easy to measure your success transplanting genes across species.
January 18th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
They are better because every bit in their bodies will glow in the dark, and it’s all about the stem cells, baby.
“…if, for instance, some of its stem cells are injected into another animal, scientists can track how they develop without the need for a biopsy or invasive test.”
I love living in the future.
January 19th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Yeah they’re not doing it for kicks, these are scientists…. It’s up to the general population to giggle at this scientific marvel…
Brendon Simpson picked out the appropriate paragraph of the article.
It’s amazing how people have this knee-jerk “well, ain’t that silly” reaction to a story like this. Yeah, no big deal, they just took a gene from a jellyfish and put it into a pig. Where do you live that this is not a big deal?
I just did the pGLO experiment with E. Coli bacteria last semester, and it’s hella cool. I’ll probably major in genetics if I can. It’s so damn interesting.
January 19th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
^^ above comment by me, monster.
January 19th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Yeah, the whole “curing disease” angle is standard issue marketing in the biosciences. Mostly the reason for doing this shit is ’cause we can. That, and being able to have something to show for the next grant cycle. It all comes down to $$$. Sorry to be so cynical about my chosen profession.
Best reaction to this news item was a comment at Heretic Fig: I think this says everything about modern civilsation that we need to know.
January 20th, 2006 at 11:31 am
Why would i want to eat glowing hotdogs, porkchops, and bacon. It makes me not want to eat that stuff again.
January 21st, 2006 at 12:12 am
You should be fine if you don’t generally eat under blue lights in dark rooms, Bacon.
January 21st, 2006 at 8:36 pm
Does anyone know when scientists breed fluorescent red monkey?
^___^