South Koreans clone cats that glow in the dark


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SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean scientists have cloned cats by manipulating a fluorescent protein gene, a procedure which could help develop treatments for human genetic diseases, officials said Wednesday.

In a side-effect, the cloned cats glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet beams.

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A team of scientists led by Kong Il-keun, a cloning expert at Gyeongsang National University, produced three cats possessing altered fluorescence protein (RFP) genes, the Ministry of Science and Technology said.

"It marked the first time in the world that cats with RFP genes have been cloned," the ministry said in a statement.

"The ability to produce cloned cats with the manipulated genes is significant as it could be used for developing treatments for genetic diseases and for reproducing model (cloned) animals suffering from the same diseases as humans," it added.

The cats were born in January and February. One was stillborn while two others grew to become adult Turkish Angoras, weighing 3.0 kilogrammes (6.6 pounds) and 3.5 kilogrammes.

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

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

The technology can also help clone endangered animals like tigers, leopards and wildcats, Kong said.

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If you read the story, you'll see they added a fluorescent protein to the cats.

Thats correct and I DID read the story, BUT a white cat WILL glow under a UV light WITHOUT being "Modded".

Now show me a black cat that glows under UV, then I'll be impressed.

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Thats correct and I DID read the story, BUT a white cat WILL glow under a UV light WITHOUT being "Modded".

Now show me a black cat that glows under UV, then I'll be impressed.

That's not quite true. You need some element of fluorescence to "glow in the dark". Does your skin glow in the dark? Nah. Clothes only glow under a black light because there's phosphor on them from being washed, some white things do not glow in the dark... like my kitchen counter top.

Try and prove me wrong ;) Your about.com article only mentions white in "white paper", which has been treated with fluorescent compounds, that's no mystery either.

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That's not quite true. You need some element of fluorescence to "glow in the dark". Does your skin glow in the dark? Nah. Clothes only glow under a black light because there's phosphor on them from being washed, some white things do not glow in the dark... like my kitchen counter top.

Try and prove me wrong ;) Your about.com article only mentions white in "white paper", which has been treated with fluorescent compounds, that's no mystery either.

The whites of your eyes and teeth also "glow" under a UV light, the teeth could be related to toothpaste, but the whites of your eyes? A white cat I had (R.I.P. Snowball) would glow under a Blacklight, and the only "Mod" he had was the snip of the jewels. He never went outside, much less to So. Korea.

If they do the same thing with a black cat, and the results are the same. Then what ever they've done has worked.

All I'm trying to get at is, have they ruled out another "simple" reason that the White kitties "Glow"? Still an interesting story all the same.

Edited by CrashGordon
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They glow because of the protein (note in the picture it isn't their fur glowing, it's their skin)

The cats organs also glow under UV light, it's not because they have white fur.

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