Taiwan Breeds Transgenic, Fluorescent Green Pigs

ScentCone writes "Transgenic pigs (and other critters) are valuable research tools because of their utility in studying human diseases. Tracking changes in some developing tissues is going to be easier, say a Taiwanese team that has introduced fluorescent, green proteins into the breeding. Said one of the researchers: 'There are partially fluorescent green pigs elsewhere, but ours are the only ones in the world that are green from inside out. Even their hearts and internal organs are green.' Do you like green eggs and ham?"

Comments

How Would You Like To Swing On A Star?

[ackthpt]

How would you like to swing on a star,
Carry moonbeans home in a jar,
You could be better off than you are,
You could be a fluorescent green pig!

Now the new pig is an animal with a bright green hide
His wings are powerful and wide!
He flies majestically through the skies
'Cause know genetic engineering risks are a pack of lies!
So if PETA and Greenpeace are your gigs,
You may be bombed a flying green pigs!

Re:How Would You Like To Swing On A Star?

[hotdiggitydawg]

To bastardise a Simpsons quote (Episode 7G10)...

Homer: (trolling Slashdot) Apple story..... another Apple story! One more and I'm a millionaire! Come on, Apple story, please, please, please, please, please. D'oh! That fluorescent green pig thing! Where were you yesterday?

Re:How Would You Like To Swing On A Star?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well I for one welcome our new Transgenic, Fluorescent Green Pig overlords.

Re:How Would You Like To Swing On A Star?

[glnorris]

And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo,
You can make a starfish one too,
And it's all just hulabaloo,
These things aren't better than they are...

Who needs a hairy swinging star?

Re:How Would You Like To Swing On A Star?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually the photos on the bbc website remind me of the porn movie of Paris Hilton and some guy. She was just as green as the pigs. Maybe she's also.. uhh never mind.

Re:How Would You Like To Swing On A Star?

[Sandb]

W00t! Disco Pigs!!

Green pigs eh?

[nizo]

So where are the winged pigs already? I would pay good money for one the next time I ask my boss for two weeks of vacation and he says, "You can have two weeks off when pigs fly".

And while you are creating freaks o' nature, please sign my future offspring up for a pair of wings, skin with chlorophyll, and night vision.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[Rei]

How well would a pair of wings work for a human? We have dense bone structure. We have muscles in places where they'd add extra weight during flight. We don't have any adaptations to our sensory organs to make them work well during flight or at high altitudes. We don't have attachment points in our skeletons for the added musculature needed to operate the wings.

Would chlorophyl-laden skin be useful for the average person? First off, I assume you mean chloroplast-laden skin, as chlorophyl doesn't usually float freely. Are you going to add vacuoles and all of the other support organelles? How much sunlight would they be able to use, given how much time most people spend indoors? If you spent more time out in the sun, you'd be increasing your risk for skin cancer. Would the additional energy costs to produce all of the organelles even get paid for by the amount of energy produced? Even if they did, they'd be dwarfed by the amount of energy that we, as humans, burn. Do you want your skin texture altered by the internal changes in the cells?

Night vision? Well, yes, I'd imagine night vision improvements could occur without too radical of changes, so I'll second that one :)

Re:Green pigs eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

what will those irish think of next? wha..? not st. patrick's day yet?

Re:Green pigs eh?

[Daniel_Staal]

Forget chloroplasts. The average person posting on Slashdot has not problem with feeding themselves, or their family. In fact, they are probably overweight. A more useful change would be to speed up their metabolism, or reduce the inclination to snack on fatty foods.

Night vision would likely be a trade-off: increase night vision and you'll probably harm color. (Though there are a few things you could do that would increase both first. Reflective retina backs and larger pupil ranges come to mind.)

You probably could increase strength/reflexes a bit fairly easily. If you don't mind problems in low-food situations. (Again, not that big a problem.)

For some useful improvements, how about strengthing the back muscles? Or redesigning the backbone-ribcage entirely? It's not a particularly good design for an upright being.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[WormholeFiend]

I would pay good money for one the next time I ask my boss for two weeks of vacation and he says, "You can have two weeks off when pigs fly".

Just show him a photo of a police helicopter in flight. Then book your vacation.

Me, I'm holding out for a true phosphorescent pet. But not one of those glow-squids because they don't live very long.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[dr_dank]

How dare you ruin a good idea with your fancy facts and right answers!

Re:Green pigs eh?

[ePhil_One]

A more useful change would be to speed up their metabolism, or reduce the inclination to snack on fatty foods.

Really no need to speed up the metabolism (mmm, fever). All you need to do is short out the fat storage mechanism, so that excess blood sugars are dumped into the urine instead of stored away. A million years of evolution through feast and famine cycles favored humans with efficient metabolisms that maximized the amount of energy they could store as fat put us where we are, the last 50 have favored those genetic freaks who can eat whatever they want and never store anything as fat.

Of course, it will be better for the race in general if its a hormone that can be eliminated during times of extended stress, say the seige of Leningrad or the Holocaust, or perhaps an enzyme that chemically breaks the blood sugar down to an safe waste product that the kidneys can safely remove.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[greenguy]

I can't give you skin with chlorophyll, but I can give you this.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[mencik]

For pigs with wings, see this.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[masdog]

What about gills? I've always wanted gills!

Re:Green pigs eh?

[clem]

Really no need to speed up the metabolism (mmm, fever). All you need to do is short out the fat storage mechanism, so that excess blood sugars are dumped into the urine instead of stored away.

Er, just like diabetics dump all that extra sugar out in their urine? You might want to think that through a bit before volunteering as a test subject.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[hackstraw]

How well would a pair of wings work for a human? We have dense bone structure. We have muscles in places where they'd add extra weight during flight. We don't have any adaptations to our sensory organs to make them work well during flight or at high altitudes. We don't have attachment points in our skeletons for the added musculature needed to operate the wings.

Any respectable Linux geek and/or penguin fan knows penguins can fly underwater and we could do that too with the addition of wings and better lungs.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[smellsofbikes]

You could just design eyes intelligently, like our Intelligent Designer didn't do for us but did for octopi,, and put the rods and cones on the FRONT of the eye instead of making the photons go through the nerve layers and the physical support layers before getting to the optic nerves. Funny how the Intelligent Designer did our eyes just like all the other vertebrates, which is to say: stupidly.

The backbone makes a lot of sense in four-legged animals, but not so much in upright ones. Same with the intestinal mesentary. They could stand some redesign.

I'd like to see animals with the ability to break down cellulose, so we could digest grass in case of starvation. (Yes, like cattle do, but they rely on massive populations of intestinal microflora to do the work for them.)

It'd also be nice if we could convert two carbon units to three carbon units and regenerate sugars from fats. If we could sustain our glycogen stores by burning triglycerides, it'd be impressive both from what we could do (and for how long) AND how much skinnier people could be. It'd also increase metabolic efficiency, though, so people could gain more weight on the same amount of food: maybe not so great.

While I'm dreaming, being able to control our cholesterol reuptake in the lower intestine could help with heart disease. It'd be cool to be able to change sexes, like some fish and frogs can. It'd be cool to regenerate body parts, like starfish do. It'd be cool to have an interface so I could stick a Tagalog thumbdrive in before flying to Manila. And immortality, and pyrokinesis, and...

Re:Green pigs eh?

[susano_otter]

We have muscles in places where they'd add extra weight during flight.

Please tell me which places contain muscles that wouldn't add extra weight during flight.

I mean, would my glutes add weight during flight, but my triceps magically weigh nothing the moment I lift off?

Re:Green pigs eh?

[Rei]

Poorly phrased on my part. I was implying ".. and wouldn't contribute to the flight" (for example, all of these, which would be proportionally far smaller (if present) by comparison on a flying animal like a bird).

Re:Green pigs eh?

[susano_otter]

Ah. Right. That makes much more sense. Thanks!

Re:Green pigs eh?

[BluBrick]

Dude, you already have something you can stick a Tagalog thumbdrive in before you fly to Manila - if that's the kind of thing that floats your boat!

Re:Green pigs eh?

[StikyPad]

Did you even read the article you liked to?

It seems that we have a greater need for high acuity vision than the octopus does and accordingly our eyes have a richer supply of nutrients than the octopus does. The retinas of our eyes get nutrition both from the blood vessels in front and from the choroid layer directly behind the rods and cones. The blood vessels in front supplement the supply from behind.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[StikyPad]

I'd rather have a pet with a built-in alarm to alert me when it's planning to relieve itself behind some furniture.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[jamesshuang]

Reflective retinal backs and wider pupils would massively lower visual acuity. Images reflecting off the back of the retina can be captured twice, once going in, once coming out, creating a very bad ghosting and mirroring effect within our own eyes. In fact, our eyes contain a special pigment in the back specifically to CAPTURE the incoming light, so it DOESN'T bounce off the back and lower acuity. Also, wide pupil ranges mean larger aperatures, which require larger lenses and muscles controlling them. Our eyesight specifically evolved this way in order for us to see with so many colors and with our current acuity - attempting to gain more night vision would sacrifice our color vision (the best in the animal kingdom) or our acuity.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[HeroreV]

How well would a pair of wings work for a human?

People wouldn't actually need to be able to fly around with their wings for them to be cool. Haven't you even seen any Victoria's Secret advertisements? Those scantily clad models sure can't fly through the air, but damn! Them bitches is hott!

Re:Green pigs eh?

[ozmanjusri]

All you need to do is short out the fat storage mechanism, so that excess blood sugars are dumped into the urine instead of stored away.

No, that's trying to control the problem by fixing one of the symptoms. The actual problem is our appetite for more food than we can metabolise efficiently. The best approaches are to either find a way of switching the appetite mechanism on and off at will, or better still, find an alternate use for the metabolic response.

Personally, I think we should look at a way of altering our fat production processes to make high octane hydrocarbons instead. With the addition of an extra bladder to store the resultant fuel, we could have the capacity to power our own transport devices. Obviously, it would be a good idea to have a separate plumbing system to avoid contamination of the fuel with urine, so men would need to be fitted with an extra penis.

Come to think of it, I suspect a lot of people may have evolved this adaptation already. There's no way they could get that silly with just the one.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, that's trying to control the problem by fixing one of the symptoms. The actual problem is our appetite for more food than we can metabolise efficiently. The best approaches are to either find a way of switching the appetite mechanism on and off at will, or better still, find an alternate use for the metabolic response.

Proper genetic response in a feast or famine life is to consume as much as possible during the feast and convert it to fat so you can survice the famine period. This is one of several genetic adaptations that don't work out well in the modern world (I've heard alcoholism is also the result of some beneficial survival mechanism, explaining the Native Americans issues when large quantities of the stuff became readily available).

While perhaps some of the issue is the "appetite" mechanism, the vast majority of people eat for reasons not related to body need caused "appetite" triggers. Appetite can be triggered by a number of issues, if you are used to eating in the morning you'll have hunger pangs in the morning, if you go a week without eating breakfast they'll stop. Others eat for social reasons, etc. Its a very complex issue (genetic and social) thats easy for those who don't have to deal with it to dismiss, especially since the "starvation solution", dieting so the body is forced to consume its resources, does work.

Of course, the organic still is an interesting idea.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[famebait]

So where are the winged pigs already?

Never mind the wings; what's taking so long with the five asses?

Re:Green pigs eh?

[plunge]

Our color vision is hardly the best in the animal kingdom. Like all mammals (who spent most of their formative years in nocturnal lifestyles in which color vision was next to useless), our color vision is quite limited. We certainly are far better than most mammals, but that's still not saying much. Birds in particular are far better. Not only do they have far higher acuity (they can make out things at much greater distances, but they also have much denser concentrations of color receptors, as well as more TYPES of color receptors (some have up to five types of cones, making them the only pentachromats in the animal kingdom, and most have two distinct classes of cones (regular and double) that operate differently at different brightnesses), allowing them to pick out far more shades than we can AND see more clearly AND deal more efficiently with light conditions. Their retinas, unlike ours, do not contain blood vessels, which scatter light and shadow certain angles. So much for that theory of needing blood vessels for acuity/color vision balance! Oh, and let's not forget light sensitivity. While humans can pick out maybe 6000 stars in the night sky, most owls can make out millions: a much grander view of the heavens!

Birds, the only living relatives of the dinosaurs: best frickin vision. Sorry, humans.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[smellsofbikes]

That's *unsanitary* and then I'd be speaking in a funny voice, which isn't gonna get me far with those hot Filipina chicks.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[smellsofbikes]

Of course I read it: I linked it. The octopus design is superior to ours. There's no indication beyond that guy that the octopus has lower need for visual acuity: it just needs to see different things. The specialization around the mammalian fovea and foveola makes it better than the REST of the eye, but still doesn't make it GOOD. The rest of his article is good but that part's smokin' the crack. Some insect and fish eyes can detect as low as three photons. Humans are lucky if they can pick up 100. (as in that's what it takes to get one rod to depolarize: cones are worse yet.) If we wanted low-light viewing, we'd have octopus-design eyes. If we want acute viewing we'd have, well, the same eye fronts we currently have, with a flexible lens.

Re:Green pigs eh?

[TapeCutter]

"You know I think that Bhutan is the one country where pigs do fly."

Stupid Pigs

[sarlos]

They're keeping all the other animals in the barn awake!

uh-oh

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean those animals i see after my 10th tequila are real?

Re:uh-oh

[Anonymous Coward]

They were real after the first. After the tenth you woke up with one.

I grew up on a farm and ...

[eldavojohn]

... I don't think this meat would sell so well in the market.

Furthermore, after reading the two links, I'm not exactly clear on what the benefit is when you turn them green. I assume it's so you can tell who's mated with the new pigs because the transgenic coloration will be present in the offspring?

From the article:

But creating them has not been easy. Many of the altered embryos failed to develop.

Four out of 265 is a pretty low rate.

I wonder how this will affect their ability to survive in nature and I also wonder if the Polynesian Islands will one day be covered with rainbow colored pigs left there by researchers trying to do stem cell research.

Researcher 1: "Has he got any orange on him?"
Researcher 2: "Nope but he's got red, green and purple all about him."
Researcher 1: "Then he's not one a carrier."
Researcher 2: "That's one ugly pig though." *looks in his Audubon Society guide* "According to his colors, he's got Alzheimer's genes, cancer genes and is extremely susceptible to syphilis...poor bastard."

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[dsanfte]

It's to track the pig's genetic material after stem cell transplants. They're not being bred for food.

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[jangobongo]

This isn't intended for "the farm", nor for the butcher or human consumption. You must have missed these paragraphs:

The scientists will use the transgenic pigs to study human disease. Because the pig's genetic material is green, it is easy to spot.

So 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.

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[Surt]

They can take cells from a green pig, transplant them into pretty much anything else, and then track growth / spread / etc from those cells just by looking for the green marker. That seems to be the main benefit to further science.

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

This isn't intended for "the farm", nor for the butcher or human consumption. You must have missed these paragraphs:

True, but I'm afraid you've also missed this one:

The researchers say they hope the new, green pigs will mate with ordinary female pigs to create a new generation - much greater numbers of transgenic pigs for use in research.

Once they begin to breed the pigs, it will be all but impossible to stop the spread of the genes. I fully expect to see some jellyfish genes in animals mean for consmption with fifteen to twenty years.

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[WormholeFiend]

I fully expect to see some jellyfish genes in animals mean for consmption with fifteen to twenty years.

I saw jellyfish on the menu at a local chinese restaurant... never dared to taste it, though.

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[xilmaril]

Once they begin to breed the pigs, it will be all but impossible to stop the spread of the genes. I fully expect to see some jellyfish genes in animals mean for consmption with fifteen to twenty years.

that's a common fear with genetically modified crops, but I don't think it's nearly as valid a fear as it is for, say, soybeans or rats.

Soybean pollen travels through the air, contaminating neighbouring crops that could be miles away. Pig sperm, not so much.

If lab rats with this gene escaped, they could go native. Rats live just about anywhere humans can. Pigs on the other hand, not so much. Taiwan seems like a warm enough place for it, but I don't think they have enough wild pigs to breed with for that to be a problem.

Also, impossible to stop the spread of genes? Plants are hard to contain. Small animals are hard to contain. Pigs, though, only survive as well as they do in the world because we raise them for food.

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[Aranth Brainfire]

Screw selling the meat on the market, I want one of these as a pet! If only for the shock value...

"Hey, nice back yard, pretty big, I like the tr... what the -?!? is that a green -ing pig?"

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

If lab rats with this gene escaped, they could go native. Rats live just about anywhere humans can. Pigs on the other hand, not so much. Taiwan seems like a warm enough place for it, but I don't think they have enough wild pigs to breed with for that to be a problem.

Who said anything about wild pigs. All it takes is one broken fence and a short lived piggy elopement, one sale to an overseas distributor and "bang"! Glow in the dark pork chops in apple sause.

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Then you could train it into an attack pig! Imagine the hilarity of someone being mauled by a glowing green pig.

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[Jonathunder]

From Wikipedia: "Across the Southern tier and Mid-western regions of North America there are multiple highly tenacious populations" of feral pigs "descendant from escapees, mixed in places with released wild European swine. They have been hunted, shot on sight, tracked with dogs, trapped and even poisoned. Likewise in Europe, the French harvest about 10,000 swine per year as wild game (also possibly mixed wild-feral), and recently a large city park within urban Paris was disrupted and closed for months while wildlife officials struggled to evict, shoot or trap a boar that had claimed the refuge for his own."

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[Anonymous Coward]

These aren't for use in farms, they are for research. Making certain tissues fluorescent lets you trace what happens during development, allowing us to learn more about what happens during the developmental stages.

Although fluorescent green bacon for breakfast might be kind of cool...

Re:I grew up on a farm and ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Furthermore, after reading the two links....

Heh Heh HeheheHe He said links...

Now I can have green eggs

[fighthairloss]

and green ham. Sam I am.

Re:Now I can have green eggs

[Elwood P Dowd]

IIRC, the ham was always green.

Go on. Look it up.

Re:Now I can have green eggs

[Finnegar]

You go eat the radioactive looking fluorescent green pigs. Just stay away from me after, OK? :)

Re:Now I can have green eggs

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you eat them with a fox?

Re:Now I can have green eggs

[Dun Malg]

IIRC, the ham was always green.

Go on. Look it up.

It is confirmed. I have the book right here. Sam I Am has a plate with green eggs, and a green ham next to it. It's a bit of linguistic ambiguity there in the title phrase. Is it (Green Eggs) and Ham, or Green (Eggs and Ham)? Common usage would have just the eggs green, but the artwork shows the ham green as well. As a small child my mom offered to make me green eggs and ham, and I distinctly remember requesting JUST THE EGGS be colored, as green ham is just...wrong.

Re:Now I can have green eggs

[P3NIS_CLEAVER]

Funny I always assumed the ham was green too.

Re:Now I can have green eggs

[lcsjk]

"Green ham is just ... wrong."

I found some green ham in the back of my refridgerator and had the same thought!

Re:Now I can have green eggs

[PFI_Optix]

Not with a mouse, not in a house, not on a train, not in the rain...

I've read this book entirely too much in the past year. Parenthood does that to you. On the plus side, my 1-year-old is already trying to read books on his own. I'm hoping to have him reading before he's 2 1/2.

(not really)

Backwards

[joelwest]

Isn't it green ham and eggs?

Fluorescent green spam!

[Anonymous Coward]

What do you think of transgenetic fluorescent green spam!
Now we know why spam keeps getting across the barriers we raise! It's genetically "enhanced"!

Re:Fluorescent green spam!

[fighthairloss]

Actually, Spam is a naturally occuring substance, found all over North America, but particularly concentrated in the American heartland states.

It is from the legendary Pink Spam Mines of Kansas is where the greatest yields used to be from. That was until the mega-corporate spam concerns bought out all the independent mines or just put them out of business.

My father was one of the last of the hearty breed of Spammers (not the same spammers we talk about today). I remember as a kid he'd come home after work, covered in pink chunks and dripping with gelatinous goo - he used to set down his hardhat on our porch, where every day it was ilicked clean by my puppy Max.

For some reason, Max died an early death.

Re:Fluorescent green spam!

[fish_in_the_c]

spam pig, whole pig , and nothing else.

Re:Fluorescent green spam!

[StikyPad]

Guess again. The midwest doesn't hold a candle to the Pacific islands in terms of Spam consumption, thanks to WWII. They actually serve Spam and rice for breakfast at McDonalds here.

It's more of a staple food and part of island culture. Hawaii leads the nation in per capita Spam consumption.
We actually make particular can just for Guam, that's called hot and spicy.
All-Spam restaurant is serious business for the Philippines

Re:Fluorescent green spam!

[Anonymous Coward]

tsk, tsk,tsk... everyone knows that spam stands for Some People Are Missing!

Re:Fluorescent green spam!

[Fortran IV]

"Spam Green is people!"

Next stop...

[op12]

"Do you like green eggs and ham?"

So are green chickens next?

Re:Next stop...

[massivefoot]

I dunno, but if the pigs start laying eggs, worry!

Re:Next stop...

[ackthpt]

So are green chickens next?

Nope! Spotted chickens, plaid geese and paisely turkeys.

You'll know they've got H5N1 when they have printed on their tail feathers:

?REDO FROM START

Re:Next stop...

[Anonymous Coward]

Done and done.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3665851. stm

Green Ham...

[__aaclcg7560]

Glow-in-the-Dark pigs are not that much of a big. Call me when they create a flying green pig, then we can talk ham.

Re:Green Ham...

[ConsumerOfMany]

Are you kidding? glow in the Dark pigs are awesome!! Now even with my beer gogles on high I can now make sure I dont end up with the fat hog at 3am by the glow alone...

Green Ham and Eggs?

[Shadow Wrought]

Just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? Of course St. Patrick's Day breakfast could get a bit easier tho'...

But...

[DAldredge]

But can they make them fly yet?

Re:But...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Aaah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Haaaaa ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha.... aaaahhhh. My god, you're so funny. You made such a funny, original joke! Nobody else has made that joke on Slashdot before, or even on this thread, and the way you told it was so fresh.

Everyone is so glad that you took the time to post your joke.

Re:But...

[Locke2005]

Anything can be made to fly, given sufficient thrust! Just strap a couple JATO units on that porker and stand back... far, far, far back.

Re:But...

[mikael]

And whenever there's a crash, the debris field will also glow bright green.

Re:But...

[cno3]

No, I think those are the instructions for how to make it rain bacon.

Re:But...

[AndroidCat]

Man, that's really going to up the ante for urban myth Darwin awards! "And they found the guy's body six feet into the side of a cliff, highlighted by a bright green circle."

Re:But...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's still good, it's still good!

Translucent Pigs?

[davidsyes]

Oh, for a sec I thought "translucent". But, translucent (or, even transparent) and flourescent would be quite interesting. Green/greenish ham...

Image word: 'develops'

Re:Translucent Pigs?

[inKubus]

Green BACON. Mmm, bacon.

Actually, this could give rise to a new kind of "free range" livestock, where you could just let them wander wherever you want and then when you need to round them up you use a UV spotlight and you can see them almost anywhere. Of course, they would be Genetically Engineered Free Range, which might be the juxtaposition that kills the deal.

Greens pigs are nothing more than red herrings

[FerretFrottage]

for what they are really trying to do--create plaid monkeys.

Re:Greens pigs are nothing more than red herrings

[Deltaspectre]

And you want to create the red herrings!

News flash!

[thepotoo]

my future offspring
Buddy, I have some sad news for you:

You post on slashdot.

Re:News flash!

[Schraegstrichpunkt]

You think that's bad? You make fun of people who post on Slashdot... by posting on Slashdot.

Re:News flash!

[Anonymous Coward]

He wasn't making fun of him, moron... he was saying there's no chance he'll breed. And, since he never said that HE had any offspring, there's no hypocrisy. Nice try, loser.

Re:News flash!

[Anonymous Coward]

rofl... chill :)

Re:News flash!

[can56]

If Buddy submitted stories to slashdot on a regular basis, I'd worry about his future offspring. Posting comments, on the other hand, is mostly harmless. (At least that's what I tell myself.)

obligatory Chris Rock quote

[d80god]

"Don't eat no red meat? No, don't eat no green meat."

Sometimes it just writes itself.

[Tackhead]

> There are partially fluorescent green pigs elsewhere, but ours are the only ones in the world that are green from inside out."

This is not the Kermit and Miss Piggy sex tape you were looking for.

I saw a pig upon a stair,
A verdant pig that wasn't there,
It wasn't there again today,
Gee, I wish he'd go away.

I never saw a glowing pig,
I never hope to be one,
But I'll tell you this right now,
I'd rather see than be one.

Why this is great science.

[Robert1]

What this proves is that it is possible to induce protein induction on all major organs in animals. This same technique could in theory be used to express self-surface proteins on an animal that can be grow in 1-2 years. These organs could then be harvested and used for human transplants. By having self-proteins the body won't rejected the transplant and there would be a relatively cheap and practical supply of usable organs.

Re:Why this is great science.

[Locke2005]

Sure, using pigs to grow organs for humans is a great idea... if you don't mind all the possible diseases that affect pigs, whether known or unknown, crossing over into human beings!

Re:Why this is great science.

[Anonymous Coward]

I recommend that you watch the movie "The Island."

There are some plot elements which involve an ethical manner of clone production for organ harvesting. It was definitely well thought-out.

Re:Why this is great science.

[biendamon]

But it's icky!

Re:Why this is great science.

[spickus]

If I need an organ, I'll take my chances.

Re:Why this is great science.

[paulooin]

From my (admitedly limited) understanding of immunology, adaptive immunity is triggered by the presence or absence of non-self antigens, and is not interfered with by the presence of self antigens--the presence of human antigens does not mask the non-human ones. So if a cell expresses both self as well as non-self antigens, its toast. In order to make pig organs easily swapable into people, merely expressing human proteins on the cell surface is not enough. Still neat in a kinda creepy way tho'

Re:Why this is great science.

[AndroidCat]

Even more important, you could make bacon that tastes like chicken. Pork: The White Meat.

Re:Why this is great science.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, but when your xenograft is accepted - along with a bunch of donor pathogens that mutate and infect OTHER human beings, you've just started the next plague.

xenotransplantation is a very, very dangerous field. at least stem cell research doesn't get that "dirty."

Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Travoltus]

I mean, where will they possibly hide?

I hope that fluorescence doesn't last long.

This has got to be the worst news I've read all day. This makes me think of that Jurassic Park quote... we keep asking ourselves whether we can do something, but not whether we should.

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Enigma_Man]

I hope that fluorescence doesn't last long.

It lasts as long as they live. The green isn't just a dye or ink, it's the actual color of their skin! Their skin _is_ green, it's not dyed green.

-Jesse

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[eldavojohn]

The problem is that there aren't many natural predators for wild pigs.

Since Hernando de Soto brought pigs to the New World, wild boars were used up through the colonies to destroy Native American crops. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to kill these pigs. Feral pigs are quite muscular and large ... proving quite the opponent to any respectable animal.

Ever had to castrate a full grown boar? I have, and it's not easy, four grown men to hold it down and one to ... well, the football term might be "strip the ball."

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless predators can find their way into the research lab where they are being housed, and turn on a UV lamp and direct it at the pig, then no, it won't make them easier for predators to see.
 
And there is a very good reason to generate these sorts of reagents - it's for easy marking and tracking of cell lineages for stem cell (and other types of) transplantation experiments.

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Anonymous Coward]

Travoltus was responding to a post that speculated about the pigs getting out into the wild. Presumably if they managed to escape. Not that this has ever happened before, of course...

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[gfxguy]

How do they sleep with all that light? Poor pigs. This is pretty cruel.

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[sunwukong]

I've been on a hobby farm where there were a couple of tame sows -- I'm surprised that even four men could hold down an irate, full grown boar. No tranquilizer?

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[BrettJB]

I think you're joking, but just to be on the safe side (there's got to be at least one A.C> out there who believes this!):

As I understand it, they're fluorescent, not chemoluminescent. In other words, they require an external stimulus (e.g. a UV light) to generate the glowing effect. In a completely dark room, they glow no more than your average, garden-variety pig does.

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[MECC]

Oh

I thought they were only green when really angry. I don't like them then they're angry...

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[mencik]

I thought they were only green when really angry.

Nope. They're green when they are envious.

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[ENOENT]

The pigs are just an excuse. Once the countryside is ravaged by fluorescent green pigs, Monsanto will make billions selling stealthy black velociraptors to hunt them.

At least, that's their plan.

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Wolfger]

I mean, where will they possibly hide?

The same place other pigs hide... In the pen, waiting for the farmer to decide they're fat enough to slaughter. Or did you not realize where bacon comes from, and that pigs are not wild creatures? Not to mention the fact that these are specifically pigs that live in a lab. Either way, no need for them to hide.

I hope that fluorescence doesn't last long.

Well, there's this thing about genes, see? The pigs will be flourescent green for at least as long as my hair will be brown. It's not something that ever "wears off".

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Guysmiley777]

Actually wild board can be disturbingly muscular and agile. One was shot near where I live a few weeks back, the guy who shot it said he watched it jump barbed wire fences without even breaking stride(!) Looking at a pig in a pen it's hard to imagine, but I guess they're about 2/3rds muscle... if they actually used it.

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Wolfger]

That's like comparing a tiger to my housecat...

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[clem]

But if you're taking a pig to your next rave, a flourescent one is a good choice. Just limit his intake of Red Bull.

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Fishstick]

are you sure?

This picture on yahoo show them glowing in the dark and the caption says

Scientists at the National Taiwan University have successfully bred three pigs which glow fluorescent green in the dark, marking a breakthrough in stem cell research.(AFP/Taiwan University)

I wouldn't have expected them to glow in the dark based on the summary, but this picture seem to indicate they do. (unless this picture was taken using some kind of light that makes them glow, as you suggest)

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[blues_shuffle]

Maybe you should've read the caption under the picture:
When lit up in the dark, the pigs glow green

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Fishstick]

Oh, duh -- :-(

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Anonymous Coward]

> Maybe you should've read the caption under the picture:

maybe you shouldn't be such an ass
the picture he links to doesn't say that
maybe you should have bothered to look first

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[blues_shuffle]

That exact picture is in one of the links from the summary. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4605202.st m

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Anonymous Coward]

This makes me think of that Jurassic Park quote... we keep asking ourselves whether we can do something, but not whether we should.

What amazes me is the number of people who are solidly against the occasional green pig, while at the same time demanding that our society spend billions of dollars to grow cloned human embryos for use as spare parts.

Re:Pigs like that will be easier prey

[Guysmiley777]

No, seriously, it was a feral male pig. Not some new uberspecies. And it was jumping fences... Like I said, disturbing.

Hmm

[dnaeil]

The reporter's name is Chris Hogg... smells fishy to me...

Alistair Reynolds novels..

[haluness]

..such as Chasm City etc described a hybrid between pigs and humans, usually belonging to the lowest ranks of society.

Who knows, maybe his description was just a few hundred years early :)

Re:Alistair Reynolds novels..

[SirLanse]

What is the difference between a Pig and a Rocker?
A Pig won't stay up all night to screw a rocker.

Re:Alistair Reynolds novels..

[The Mgt]

usually belonging to the lowest ranks of society

Whereas at the moment they belong to the upper ranks.

Dystopian

[Anonymous Coward]

because-your-day-wasn't-distopean-enough dept.

It's "dystopian". If you're going to use big, fancy words, learn to spell.

You don't need genetic engineering for that...

[Max Threshold]

Just mate with Cthulhu.

Re:You don't need genetic engineering for that...

[susano_otter]

I don't think mating with Cthulhu has any possible positive or useful outcomes for the mate.

Journal Article?

[Hatta]

Has this been published yet? Anyone know where? I'm curious what promoter they used to drive expression of GFP in every cell.

Re:Journal Article?

[tempest69]

If I were going for every cell, Id probably piggyback on the Calcium or Potassium channel promoter. But I havent found exactly which promoter they used.

Re:Journal Article?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm curious what promoter they used to drive expression of GFP in every cell.

I heard they went with Don King, apparently he has experience working around cells.

Alba?

[montgomery]

Sounds like this from a while ago.

http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html

Vulcan pigs?

[ddkilzer]

So you're telling me that the pigs' blood is green, too? Doesn't that make them Vulcan?

Re:Vulcan pigs?

[AtomicBomb]

Jokes aside. I am really curious about the internal of these green pigs. The scientists suggest that the pigs are green inside out. We know that the red meat is red because of hemoglobin. Its colour is pretty intense. I wonder if the jellyfish green pigment is actually an extra pigment included in the pigs' body and blood... If so, the pork should have some funny colour which is a mix between red and green. Amazing one way or the other.

Re:Vulcan pigs?

[gstoddart]

So you're telling me that the pigs' blood is green, too? Doesn't that make them Vulcan?

No no no. You're confusing the terms necessary and sufficient. In order to prove something is a Vulcan, it is necessary that it have green blood. However, having green blood is not sufficient to prove it is Vulcan.

Otherwise, you've already proven that it is a table since it has four legs. :-P

Re:Vulcan pigs?

[iamlucky13]

If understand correctly (and I haven't taken a biology class since high school), the blood is red because of that's the color of hemoglobin when oxygen is bonded to it (blue for C02...or is it just the lack of oxygen?), so unless there's a significant change to the hemoglobin inside the red blood cells, it will still be normal colors. Plus, since any sort of scientific study on animals usually involves drawing blood, the researchers probably know what color the blood is, and since green blood would look really cool, they would show us pictures if it was.

Besides, isn't Vulcan blood green because it's based on Cu3+ instead of Fe3+? Imagine the weight savings!

Sounds like just the perfect

[thaerin]

Sounds like just the perfect thing you'd need to play a great practical joke with on your stoner roommate. Wait until they're really high, turn on all the black lights, and then shuffle in a few of the green pigs.

Re:Sounds like just the perfect

[ichigo 2.0]

What's the joke? Shouldn't he be used to seeing green pigs? And where do you get black light?

Re:Sounds like just the perfect

[suitepotato]

There's a movie called "Rave Pigs" in this somehow.

"Yeah, that'll happen when...

[Phoenix666]

...Pigs glow in the dark." Oh wait...

Dang it!

[engagebot]

Dang it!

Why couldn't I have been born *after* this...

Another use

[Belseth]

If the process could be adapted to work on developing cells and attach only to cancer cells it could help speed detection and make it easier to see cancerous cells during surgery. The obvious benefit would be with melonomia. If after a treatment cancerous moles would change color it'd make detection possible without biopsies and help see if it was spreading.

Re:Another use

[RobertB-DC]

If the process could be adapted to work on developing cells and attach only to cancer cells it could help speed detection and make it easier to see cancerous cells during surgery. The obvious benefit would be with melonomia. If after a treatment cancerous moles would change color it'd make detection possible without biopsies and help see if it was spreading.

Amazing. 113 comments, 19 ranked +3 or above, and this is the only freaking one with a science-to-humor ratio of greater than 1.

No wonder I'm a subscriber. Marge, get me my blacklight and my hardhat! We're having bacon tonight!

Re:Another use

[Breakfast Pants]

It wasn't that great. If we could create something to seek out cancer cells I doubt we would have it tag them green for easy identification in standard course grained surgery. We would just have it execute the damn thing.

expansion of pet market

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple did it with computers, so why not do it with pets. Prior to Apple's colored cases on the iMac and cubes, most PCs were tan. Apple opened up the world of computer cases and now we have clear case PCs. Lets do it with pets!

Imagine the world where you buy your blue designer short-hair cat and walk it along side your lime green dog. Imagine the special fish that glow, blink, and are fluorescent.

This could get VERY interesting....

Re:expansion of pet market

[MadRocketScientist]

Imagine the special fish that glow...

You mean these previously covered fish?

Re:expansion of pet market

[RingDev]

I had a camo case and a black case with flames long before Apple released their jelly fish DNA altered cases.

-Rick

Great, let's just screw with mother nature ...

[Anonymous Coward]

after all, it's not like anything bad could happen, eh?

Isn't anyone else tired of seeing evil and irresponsible corporate development?

Marvelous

[MouseR]

If this goes into mass production, we'll end up with florescent green sewage.

South Park

[Anonymous Coward]

The experiment is a failure! This one assed pig is completely useless. It must be destroyed.

Close Encounters

[digitaldc]

Now we will have to think twice when we get UFO reports from Taiwan with people seeing 'little green men.'

I bet their colleagues are green with envy.

And this is supposed to make me feel better

[SirLanse]

Turning pigs green. This is supposed to make me feel better about stem cell and cloning research. Are the wackos involved with this are to be trusted to preserve humanity? At what percent of remaing human genes does a creature retain its civil rights? Pigs can be eaten, kids cannot. Where is the line? How will you react when someone laughs at your line?
Ask yourselves these questions.

Re:And this is supposed to make me feel better

[howajo]

I am not sure that I have fully developed a position on this issue, but...

What disturbs me about this... There is no line. The research is so diverse, that there is no clear boundary between research on humans and research on other organisms. I foresee a time in the future where lawyers wrangle over whether or not their clients particular pig, human, soybean, whatever is illegal, or has human rights, or is ok to harvest parts from.

I don't think it's realistic to expect this technology to not be pursued, but I think that we lack even the vaguest clue about the vastness of the implications.

Re:And this is supposed to make me feel better

[Vellmont]

  At what percent of remaing human genes does a creature retain its civil rights?

I certainly don't claim to be an expert in genetics, but I don't think there is such a thing as a "human gene". It's like saying something is made of "car factory bricks". The researchers aren't at fault here, it's your understanding of animal genetics.

Re:And this is supposed to make me feel better

[maxume]

The line is somewhere north of chimpanzee. As long as the damn thing still has hooves, we are fine.

Nope!!

[Skadet]

No. Unless you're referring to what the summary should have said in reference to the article. But then yI would point out that "Eggs and ham" is a unit, making "green eggs and ham" consist of both green eggs and green ham as shown on the cover illustration of the book.

Valuable indeed...

[MadTinfoilHatter]

"Transgenic pigs (and other critters) are valuable research tools because of their utility in studying human diseases."

...'cause one day when you come down with a real serious disease that turns you fluorecent and green, you'll be thanking these guys. :-P

Not sure what the big deal is

[smooth wombat]

Where I live we've had glowing pigs since 1979. In fact, most everything around here glows.

What's really neat is at night you don't need to turn the lights on around the house to see. Your natural bodily glow provides enough light for you to see. Even better, if you get up in the middle of the night you never have to worry about stepping on your cat or dog because you can easily see them.

However, it should be noted that image of glowing bodies under the covers can be quite disturbing for the uninitiated so the orgies have to be kept to a minimum.

Yes, I survived Three Mile Island. Gallows humor is what keeps me going.

Pork...

[digitaldc]

Pork....the other green meat.

Re:Pork...

[Anonymous Coward]

Smurf, the other blue meat.

This is great!!!

[Oldsmobile]

Now I can finally find my pig in the dark!

Get it right Taiwan!

[erroneus]

Blue Asian Women! Chop-chop!

Margaret Atwood called, she wants her plot back.

[Anonymous Meoward]

Why am I thinking of pigoons ?

Did anyone else notice...

[metternich]

that the author of the BBC article is Chris Hogg?

I for one look forward to it.

[ds_job]

I can't tell you the number of times that I have mislaid my pig's hearts in the dark. Now I'll never need to do my "abomination against $DEITY" experiments with the light on again.
*mwhahah*

Soylent Green is Pigs!

[gomel]

I tried to warn you but you wouldn't listen!

I did

[flyinwhitey]

I asked myself those questions.

But then I started laughing too hard because the questions were so dumb.

Re:I did

[Aardpig]

Hey, chaps, look -- it's a talking cunt!

re

[towsonu2003]

tarded...

Pork?

[Anonymous Coward]

Pork, the other Fluorescent Green meat.

Glowing Pigs!

[Anonymous Coward]

I never saw a glowing pig,
I hope I never see one.
But I'll tell you here and now,
I'd rather see than be one.

Apologizes to James Thurber

Pigoons?

[Freshly Exhumed]

When will we have pigoons, woolvogs, and rakunks too?

Dr Suess was a Prophet

[myth24601]

We almost have Green Eggs and Ham!

OK, we have the Green Pigs but what about the Green chickens?

Marketing opportunity

[HTH NE1]

I can think of one marketing opportunity for flourescent green pigskin: American football. Especially for night games.

Kind of cool, I guess...

[Anonymous Coward]

but can they run Linux?

Pigs are filthy animals.

[loteck]

I don't eat filthy animals.

Re:Pigs are filthy animals.

[Shadow Wrought]

I try not to eat pigs either. Now pork on the other hand...

Re:Pigs are filthy animals.

[Anonymous Coward]

Pigs are not filthy animals and I would risk a flame mod but I would wager they are more intelegant then some of our readers. Hint lets strip the mellin out of your skin and put you out in a cage you can't get out of that will let in the sunlight and see what you do...

The Real Important Question

[d_54321]

How do they taste?

Green = dangerous + eew!

[Spy der Mann]

A few years ago we bought some ham. There was a green spot on it, after i looked closer it was a tiny green worm-like thing with black eyes, all curled up. I don't want to imagine what would happen if a thing like that entered my system.

If the ham is green, how are we supposed to spot this stuff?

Re:Green = dangerous + eew!

[Jonathunder]

"If the ham is green, how are we supposed to spot this stuff?"

We have to genetically modify the little green worms to be bright red, of course.

That's Alastair Reynolds

[AJWM]

Some of us -- said author included -- spell it the civilized way, not that heathen sassenach variation. ;-)

-- Alastair (not Reynolds)

This reads like a cyberpunk novel

[crovira]

next they'll figure out how to apply it to humans as retrofittable 'coloration'.

That would make the whole black/yellow/white thing seem prety tame.

Imagine if there were people walking around shaded with a 'Tiggy Winky' purple hue.

The religious right would go red in the face.

Oor maybe you could color voters persistantly according to their registered political party affiliation. Red state, blue state would really mean something then.

I can see riding a bus and being confronted with some kids colored 'gang green' to mark their turf.

What if we evolve this into an involuntary or, better yet, a wilfull coloration/camouflage scheme?

Would it lead to new sexual mores, like blushing but instead of turning a bit red in the cheeks, it could flash in animated patterns?

It could lead to entirely new forms of 'flashing'. It would certainly lead to better, or at least more inventive, uses for nude beaches, (arranging butt cheeks in rainbow colours if you line up a certain way. :-)

Would somebody be able to exercise such fine control that s/he'd be able to create his own tatoo designs? (Think of the camo'ed chick X-Men but with color only.)

Re:This reads like a cyberpunk novel

[WormholeFiend]

Being a different "alien" color doesnt work too well for people in a social context...

Just ask someone who suffers from Argyria

Re:This reads like a cyberpunk novel

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine if there were people walking around shaded with a 'Tiggy Winky' purple hue.

How dare you misspell the name of Tinky Winky our lord and master!

Re:This reads like a cyberpunk novel

[phageman]

Reminds me of the Star Trek episode where the people were colored one half white and one half black, but two separate races with the colors on opposite sides. Another example of Rodenberry's prescience?

Re:This reads like a cyberpunk novel

[Enigma_Man]

It wouldn't work too well _now_. But I imagine that tattoos or piercings (outside of the realm of pirates) were socially just as strange 100 years ago as rainbow-skin would be today. Society changes, and lots of things can change quickly these days.

-Jesse

Trotters

[d_54321]

In daylight the researchers say the pigs' eyes, teeth and trotters look green.
FYI, trotters are feet, not what I thought they were at first.

When are they going to create something useful...

[Anonymous Coward]

like beautiful women who always agree to meaningless sex and never talk or play mind-games? Oh wait, they already did.

In other news today...

[theCat]

... Taiwan and mainland residents are clamoring for transgenic pig/tiger. A near riot was narrowly averted in Shanghai's meet processing district when several thousand middle-aged men fell out of line at the butchers and mobbed the counters, demanding their share of "aphrodisiac pork". Restaurants across both countries cannot serve enough of the much-sought food ingredient, thought by millions to contain valuable proteins from tigers that will stimulate male function, much as ground tiger penis used to be prized before the tigers became largely extinct. The Chinese government is stepping up breeding programs for trans-pork to help cope with demand. According to Agriculture Minister Du Qinglin,'The government has an obligation to provide products that enhance the quality of life of all Chinese people, and the new transgenic farm animals are intended to meet demand for foods that offer perceived advantages over their plain counterparts.'"

Mod it funny if you want to... but I'm not trying to be funny. There is no technical or practical limit to this madness once started.

Re:In other news today...

[d_54321]

That's right- it's a slippery slope. Next thing you know they'll be transgenic humans. Then legislation to make them elligible to run for president. Then manimal overlords. Then they wipe us out in a jealous rage crying and screaming "I just wanted to one of you, just accepted - that's all I wanted!" as the nuclear warheads detonate all over the globe. It's a logical conclusion if you think about it. That's all I'm saying- slippery slope.

I have a feeling this is widespread already.

[wsanders]

No further comment. Just read the newspaper. It a Golden Age for Evil Mutants abound, human and otherwise.

Truly, Truly Wonderful!

[Tibor the Hun]

Now I know what to do with this!

Jolly with his pants down

[BrockH01]

***In Other News*** The Jolly Green Giant, out of work vegetable spokesperson, was seen fleeing from some very surprised pigs at Farmer Johnson's farm. Farmer Johnson was quoted as saying, "Jolly sure do love them livestock" as he cleaned up the remains of his prize sow, Petunia. You may recall that such "farm love" is what got Jolly fired from his position as a spokesperson for canned and frozen vegetables. It seems he doesn't prefer vegatables, but rather the other white meat.

FAA requirement

[Blurfle]

Wasn't this done so that the pigs would be visible in flight at night? Otherwise, they'd have to strap on the navigation lights. How primitive.

Science Serving Homer Simpson

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing beats being able to find the bacon at night without having to turn on the lights.

"Mmmmm. phosphorescent lard. mmmmm"

Pics

[kevin_conaway]

This article from the BBC has pictures.

They appear to glow in the dark!

Duh...

[modecx]

They'd solve all of those problems with the genetic engineering. Naturally! (Or not, as the case may be.) And besides, our super strong, humanoid, lizard skinned flying clone overlords wouldn't know what it was like to truly be human, and they'd be far too distracted by playing tag with migrating geese to care about bone structures, metabolism, muscles and all that sort of crap.

Meanwhile in Spain...

[Zaatxe]

This is no news for people here in Spain. A local mobile phone company uses a green pig in their TV ads. It doesn't glow in the dark, but it speaks! Ok, that was idiot of me...

Re:Pigs are filthy animals. - Oblig Simpsons

[bcattwoo]

Homer: Wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute. Lisa honey, are you
              saying you're *never* going to eat any animal again? What about
              bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad! Those all come from the same animal!
Homer: Yeah, right Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

Green ham.... ha!

[holywarrior21c]

So finally i can eat my green glowing in the dark spam ham at night without turning lights on. Should i boil it? mmmm glowing green meaty juice.... in fact scientists here in korea have invented fluorescent green chicken two years ago for the similar research purpose and maybe who knows for the meal after research party. Perhaps biggest gut scientist Woo Suk Hwang would eat it in front of his successfully cloned and genetically matching dog, sadly regretting faking his report on human embryo cloning to Science magazine. so what is next? will there be something left for me to say some jokes? 'yeah right i'll do that if trasparent and disease immune pig fucks green glowing chicks that genetically matches with mother chicks with terminal disease'. perhaps i still could say "- when apocalypse of the universe is now". I really hope so! - a geek inspired by Stewart Gilligan Griffin wrote -

You can do this at home

[HumanTorch]

Just by leaving meat in your fridge for long enough..

I can see the spam...

[RafaelGCPP]

I can imagine in a near future seeing on my inbox: "3N1ARG3 4ND M4K3 ITGL0W"

Put Gene Into Feral Pigs, Hogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

so it's easier to hunt them at night.

OTOH that might be really bad for a fella holding one of them light sticks and poking around in the brush looking for his lost cell phone.

Mating

[MECC]

"The researchers say they hope the new, green pigs will mate with ordinary female pigs to create a new generation - much greater numbers of transgenic pigs for use in research."

It would be interesting to know if the green color increases their ability to attract mates.

Wow...

[posterlogo]

...slashdot really is no place for biology research news. 99% percent of these posts are crude (but amusing) humor, indicating a benign carelessness about underlying research topic. The last 1% is truly frightening -- people so afraid of biology research they actually feel it necessary to malign it while lacking any true understanding of what is going on.

These transgenic animals are nothing new -- transgenics (even the fluorescent kind) have been around for many years, and are a critical tool for elucidating basic mechanisms in biology. Pigs, like mice, worms, yeast, bacteria, etc., are model organisms -- their underlying cell biology is so generic, that understanding it is immensely useful for many pure research and biomedical purposes.

The researchers involved in this study were not out to make some freak of nature -- they used a very straightforward line of reasoning to make these transgenics. By labelling the entire animal, one can trace any part of the animal when it is transplanted into an unlabelled animal. For example, researchers could study what happens with organ transplant: how do the donor organs interact with the receipient body? Does it integrate well or not? More cutting-edge research could involve tracing individual tissues and cells, such as stem cells and neurons and cardiac cells. Where do the cells migrate? Do they localize properly (i.e. do cardiac cells stay where they should at the heart)? Do stem cells that were introduced for a particular damage (i.e. brain damage) actually migrate to the brain and function where they should?

As stated in the article, many others have done similar studies with mice, monkeys, etc while labelling specific tissues. These researchers have done it with a pig, and while labelling every cell in the pig. I don't personally believe this is novel from a research standpoint, but I think it is a valuable tool continue research in mammalian biology. I certainly don't think it's something to be feared, hated, and maligned as some here have suggested.

on an organ farm?

[The Fun Guy]

Four out of 265 is a pretty low rate.

Actually, that's pretty good. Generally speaking, a "1 healthy animal per 1000 modified embryos" success rate was normal, and that resulted in chimeric fusions, the splotchy nature of the incorporation of the exogenous DNA. Some parts of the animal would express the genes for the green fluorescent protein, others wouldn't. If they really got a line of pigs that express the gene in 100% of their cells, then that's a big step forward, not so much to have pigs that flueoresce, but in that they developed techniques that allow for ubiquitous expression of the inserted genes.

Why is this important? If you are engineering pigs to express human cell recognitions factors (so you can use that pig's liver for human transplants, for example), then you want to be sure that ALL of the liver cells are expressing them, otherwise the liver cells that don't will trigger rejection by the organ recipient. Link the GFP gene to the recognition factor gene, and you can tell just by looking.

I think I speak for us all when I say...

[kentyman]

FINALLY!

There is a line...

[jaaronc]

...drawn on January 22, 1973, when the Supreme Court ruled that "the word 'person,' as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn." Do not fool yourself into thinking that an organism that is part human part pig will be given civil rights that are denied to one that is fully human, yet unborn. Of course, if one pig-man sits down on a bus and refuses to move, and another declares "I have a dream", anything could happen...

Green pigs...

[LouisZepher]

Unless I'm mistaken, shouldn't they be called 'raths' now?

Coincidence?

[ryen]

Is it any coincidence that the author of the bbc article is named Chris Hogg?

What's the big deal?

[msormune]

What are we supposed to do with these pigs? They have only one ass! Get back to us when you have mastered the engineering of a pig with four asses.

Tell me when it can fly!

[kimvette]

Yes but when can we see a flying green pig? Give these pigs wings and a lot will begin to happen when people are forced to stick to their word. :D /weak attempt at humor

This story translates as...

[Sir_Eptishous]

"Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"

Now, if they'll just do chickens too we'll be..

[gbutler69]

able to have GREEN EGGS AND HAM! Yeah!


Stupid ass filter won't let me capitalize the above without a bunch of junk in lower-case to balance it out. Yes, I know it's like YELLING! That's the POINT!

Insert obligatory Dr. Mephisto joke here

[anonymous_wombat]

Do these pigs have 4 asses?

Silent, hidden PRM (Piggy Rights Management)

[The Fun Guy]

Imagine that you are a biotech company, and you've successfully created a line of engineered pigs. Maybe they are suitable for organ transplantation into humans, maybe they eat lawyers and sh*t nickles... they're really valuable for whatever reason. How do you keep somebody from just hijacking a shipment of your WonderPigs(tm) and claiming they invented an unrelated line of pigs that do the same thing as yours?

Easy! Create an artificial gene that makes a do-nothing protein with a novel, specific, unique sequence that you select. Insert that gene along with the action gene cluster (EatLawyer + ShtNickles) and the marker gene (Green Fluorescent Protein). Then, everytime the pig's cells express the action genes, they also express the marker (GFP) and your non-obvious marker protein.

When their SuperPigs(tm) hit the marketplace two years after your WonderPigs(tm), you just take a tissue sample and look for the telltale protein. Even if they silcenced the GFP and replaced it with Red, Yellow or Magenta, they wouldn't know to look for your hidden gene. You could even set it up so that it's only expressed under certain conditions, like an Easter Egg. That particular proetin sequence isn't found in nature, so if it's there, this must be a pirated pig.

It's like the funny pictures that chip manufacturers hide on processing chips... copy this layout and we'll know where to look for our signature.

Re:Silent, hidden PRM (Piggy Rights Management)

[SirLanse]

So it is just to aid IP grab.

Where Can I Buy One?

[Ranger]

This is indeed a breakthrough. They can make the entire pig glow green previously they could only make certain body parts glow like their testicles.

I'd love to have a glowing pig so I can tell the neighbors it's radioactive.

Obligatory

[Anonymous Coward]

I ... for one ... welcome our glowing green pig overlords.

Oh, and in Soviet Russia, government makes YOU glow for pigs!

In other news Apple announces...

[jnadke]

...the iHuman.

Coming in 5 different colours of Black, White, Blue, Pink, and Green. Collect all 5!

Re:Ghost in the Shell: SAC had an episode of this

[vertinox]

They had a episode of SAC (SA: The Fortunate Ones - MISSING HEARTS) in which they investigated missing organs from a particular company and they showed the pig farms in which people would donate cells that could be grown into full organs in the pigs.

Basically, the premise was that there were med students that were stealing organs that people where going to throw away in order to sell on the black market by relabling them.

Still its an interesting concept and maybe possible someday.

I can't believe I'm the first one to say..

[Yankel]

that I welcome our new flourescent green pig overlords.

But seriously folks, doesn't this scare you at all? I know there's actually a practical reason for this, but what's going to happen if one of these suckers get out into the wild?

Even worse, what happens when your neighbour's kid starts glowing in the dark?

Re:I can't believe I'm the first one to say..

[posterlogo]

This one particular article should not be the cause of your worry, as transgenic animals are nothing new. Animal research is quite tightly controlled, and I am not that concerned about these particular animals escaping. It would not be of grave concern if that happened (the green fluorescent protein is non-toxic), but of course we cannot predict for sure how intermixing of these scientific animals with wildlife would affect ecosystems and the food chain.

Even worse, what happens when your neighbour's kid starts glowing in the dark?

Now this is just sensationalism. These animals were engineered when they were embryos to incorporate the gene for Green Fluorescent Protein. No such gene therapy is currently possible in humans, and no such work in human embryos is even feasable. It may one day be, but don't discount researchers as being immediately drawn to evil plans. It is currently possible in theory to add sculptures under your skin (kind of like 3D tattoos), similar to breast implants and such, but you don't see that taking hold. No, your neighbors kid is not going to be green.

Cool!

[inphizzible_friend]

Yet another high quality product to come out of taiwan!

Is it a Pig?

[Odonian]

So IANAGE (I am not a genetic engineer), but this animal appears to be a cross between a pig and a jellyfish. Is it still considered to be a pig? Granted the 'jellyfish' part of it's DNA is small. How much of a change can you make to the DNA of something before it's considered a new species/family/phylum or whatever? Can there ever be a clear distinction now between pigness and non-pigness?

Re:Is it a Pig?

[Dr. GeneMachine]

Of course it is a pig. It wouldn't be considered a pig anymore if it couldn't mate and produce fertile offspring with normal pigs. One GFP-Gene won't give you that result.

Tranqs cost too much

[eldavojohn]

Ha, my parents wouldn't even pay for me to be put under when I had to have my wisdom teeth cut out.

You think my family would waste money on tranqs to cull a pig? Not bloody likely.

If you think family farms have the money to throw around on things like this, you're wrong. There's no coincidence I'm working for a huge company and not on a family farm--corporate farms have sapped the money from the small time farmer. Kiss the family farm goodbye & enjoy your cheap frankenfood.

strengh

[da5idnetlimit.com]

I seem to remember a human being has a "limiter" in his cortex, that stops him to use 100% strengh at all time...

Remember the stories of a mother lifting a car because her offspring was under it ?
Remember that barrier you jumped after being frightened by a snake ?

It all happened because your body pumped large doses of adrenaline in your body...

Which is also one of the things oriental martial arts study tech you to bypass...

Hard studies in Kung Fu (and Yin techniques) allow you to do just that...put more adrenaline in your system at will.

The problem is twofold : you only have so much adrenaline available for immediate use, and you r body isn't engeenered to support long period of intensive "Boost Mode" for long periods...

Onca again, training can help...

Redesigning the rib cage would mean quite feat...and you first have to find a better design...

I quite like the versatility of our actual bodies...
It's just the necessary "maintenance" (training) that is a bit hard on me...

Re:strengh

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd have read your post but your use of (...) at the end of near every sentence is way too damn distracting and annoying. Maybe nobody else told you about this because they didn't have the heart to. I'm asking you nicely: please stop.

Re:strengh

[Sparr0]

unfortunately some people have poorly regulated and over-producing adrenal glands, so they develop a dependence on its boost. these people, including me, usually have conscious control over the '100%' mode, but since they rely so much on a constant flow the boost is only 80%->100% instead of 40%->100% like a normal person. one up side is that a heavy dose of adrenaline is very good for warming up from a cold shower or a run in the snow very very quickly.

Re:Ghost in the Shell: SAC had an episode of this

[jameskojiro]

Nice to know someone watches the show.

I personally liked the guy who owned the place, basically a brain ina little metal box.

Green Ham and Eggs

[aphoenix]

I do not like green ham and eggs I do not like them I'm-not-Craig I do not like them there or here Or with Green St.Paddy's Beer Not with a rat or in a lab Not with their fat in colours drab I do not like green ham and eggs I do not like them, I'm-not-Craig Can you? Plan you? Right at dawn? Can you? Plan you? In Taiwan? Can you? Plan you? If they honk? Can you? Plan you? Posted by Zonk? Not right at dawn. Not in Taiwan. Not if they honk, Posted by Zonk. I do not like green ham and eggs I do not like them I'm-not-Craig. Not in a car. Not on a Yacht. Not posted nicely on /. I do not like green ham and eggs. I do not like them I'm-not-Craig.

And in breaking news...

[pinkstuff]

...Kids around the world breath a sigh of relief as 'eating their greens' suddenly becomame a lot tastier.

They completely missed THE best/funnest app!!

[The_REAL_DZA]

Breed 'em up about a dozen of these piggies, go out in the woods near a pig farm and release a few weather balloons, then turn the pigs loose. Or, as Homer Simpson might say: "If Hollywood has taught us anything, and it hasn't, it's that the best use for cutting-edge technology is for practical jokes."

Ake-Tay Us Oo-Tay Or-Yay Eader-Lay!

We are right to worry. Here's why:

[Empty Yo]

Breast implants help mastectomy patients recover a sense of femininity ... and turn porn stars into fugly freaks of nature. The Internet helps unite the world in a way never before seen ... and it allows pedophiles a great way to keep in touch with one another. Planes help destroy boundaries between countries ... and help smuggle drugs into those countries.

Every technology gets turned around by the public into something that researchers never really envision in advance, so the question is: what will this be turned into? We are one fad and a whackload of rich people away from having designer neon dogs and cats for people like Paris Hilton. I'd be happy to take the benefits without any of the drawbacks, but so far in human history, that hasn't happened. *Every* technology gets misused eventually.

Soylent Green are pigs!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Soylent Green are pigs!!!!!!!!

I've seen these before

[Sponge Bath]

...at a Pink Floyd concert!

Ha Ha, charade you are.

Glofish

[js290]

Glofish have been commercially available for a little while now. http://www.glofish.com/about.asp

Now when I get the flu next winter.....

[Toadius]

I'll glow in the dark? Great. I'll match the color of my snot when I'm sick.

universal protein induction

[cinnamon colbert]

I think everyone assumed that there were type I or II or III RNApol promoters tht would function in all organisms, so there was no real need to do the exp.

As to harvesting transgenic organs for transplant into humans, it is not enough to add necessary antigens, you have to remove unwanted antigens as well.

this is a little more tricky.

You also have to demonstrate that the tissue does not contain any porcine viruses that can jump to humans; proving a negative is often a little tedious

Checklist of Life

[jrmiller84]

-End World Hunger -Find a cure for Cancer -Intelligent Design? -Are we alone? -Flourescent pigs Phew! Glad that one's off the list!

Camouflage

[cHALiTO]

I bet they had problems with the dragon eating their pigs again. They called Bobbin to do his green painting spell but he wasn't available :)

Re:We are right to worry. Here's why:

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously Scientists are using magnets on the moral compass of society...

Lies!

[penguinoid]

This is just a lie being propagated by the makers of Soylent Green. Don't be fooled. *Puts on aluminum-foil hat*

Re:We are right to worry. Here's why:

[posterlogo]

First of all, there is a huge imbalance here with people jumping to end-of-world cyborg pig scenarios, and not enough comments on the specific research described in TFA.

Second, your analogy is flawed -- I am opposed to people making broad comments about the entire scientific community over any possible misues of biomedical breakthroughs. I do not see people here making endless comments about Google promoting illegal activites, or new flight technology promoting drug trade. Biomedical research deserves the same respect and consideration.

Re:We are right to worry. Here's why:

[CosmeticLobotamy]

Planes help destroy boundaries between countries ... and help smuggle drugs into those countries.

And what paranoid bit of foresight would have prevented that? You want Wilbur and Orville to stop trying to fly until they can fit a drug sniffing machine on the door? Terroristic intent detectors?

Unless you're prescient, and very few of us are, just worry about the shit on its way toward the fan and not worry about the animals that will make more of it that could possibly eventually be flung into some fan somewhere.

There are things to worry about, but at least wait until you have a specific fear in mind.

We are one fad and a whackload of rich people away from having designer neon dogs and cats for people like Paris Hilton.

Neat.

Why is this news?

[ImaNihilist]

Scientists have been using GFP transgenic organisms for years- why suddenly is this new?

All essential summarized

[Anonymous Coward]

• Imagine how much light a beowulf cluster of these fluorescent pigs will deliver!

• In Taiwan, you can always breed green pigs. In Soviet Russia, The green pigs can always breed YOU!

• In Korea, only old people hollow green after meal.

• What if kids start to use fluorescent instead of crack? Won't somebody please think of the children?

• ...but will the pigs run Linux?

• Fortunately my Tinfoil Hat blocks them from seeing my head in dark when they replace Big Mac meat with fluorescent pork.

• I, for one, welcome our teenage-mutant-ninja pig overlords.

• All your pork is belong to us!

Testament to the non-interference of GFP

[OGmofo]

The most remarkable implication of this is that, assuming they have observed no phenotype resulting from the GFP knockin, GFP really doesn't interfere measurably with any pathway, developmental, metabolic, or otherwise. Obviously there is the tiny resource cost associate with producing and elimating a useless inert bystander protein. GFP seems to be the ideal marker.

it beats what we have now

[r00t]

I expect that chlorophyl-laden skin would work like the melanin-laden we have now. If you stay in the sun, you get darker. Instead of getting a tan, you'd get a green. The more-exposed parts of you would be darker. Instead of tan lines, you'd get green lines.

Melanin is a waste. It just makes heat when we least desire extra heat.

There are other photochemicals too, mostly used by bacteria and sea creatures. There is a red chemical used for energy production in bacteria. There are a few different glowing chemicals used by sea plants to convert useless light colors into colors that are usable for energy production.

With several chemicals, we might end up somewhat dark. We probably wouldn't look like the "black" (brown) people of today though. We might have a bit of a purple tint, or maybe come out kind of burgandy.

Perhaps being reflective would be better, at least to UV and IR. There could be several layers. Outermost, you have the energy-producing layer. Then comes the glowing layer that converts UV into light for energy generation. The innermost layer would be reflective, bouncing stuff outward to protect your innards.

with direct applications!

[Gactaculon]

Combined with new gene therapy techniques, I wonder what kind of market this gene-splicing will create for fluorescent green tatoos...

RoboMan?

[name*censored*]

I don't know about you guys, but I'd pay to get my genes altered so I can interface with electronics, and be replaced in part by electronics. How convenient it would be to lose, say, my leg and think "oh well I can always get a replacement at RadioShack for about $5". Also, I wouldn't mind integrated wireless...but I'd be a little worred about viruses/trojans/spy/malware.

The pigs are yellow, the light is blue.

[Anonymous Coward]

The tinge in the skin of the pig in the picture looks yellow, not green to me. The fact that they state the pigs are being shown under a blue light (blue + yellow = green duh) gives away the truth: green pigs do not exist. If i shine a blue light on a red flourescent animal, does that mean the animal is purple? No. Silly.

Technically, that isn't anymore "a pig"

[Julian Morrison]

...it's a pig-jellyfish (pellyfish? jellyfig?). It has heredity from both.

Isn't that just the coolest band name?

[Murgalon]

Transgenic Fluorescent Green Pigs

Charlton Heston:

[SamLowry42]

Soylent Green is pork!!!

oh ... ok ... so nothing to worry about ...