Slashdot Mirror
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?"
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!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
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.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
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: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."
My work here is dung.
and green ham. Sam I am.
for what they are really trying to do--create plaid monkeys.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Buddy, I have some sad news for you:
You post on slashdot.
Obligatory Soundbite Catchphrase
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.
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.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
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.
If big boobed women work at Hooters do one legged women work at IHOP?
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.
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.
Pork....the other green meat.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
that the author of the BBC article is Chris Hogg?
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
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.
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.