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Glowing Cats a New Tool in AIDS Research

sciencehabit writes "Scientists have developed a strain of green-glowing cat by infecting their eggs with a virus containing a foreign gene—the first time this method has worked in a carnivore. Experts say the advance could make the cat a valuable new genetic model—and potentially protect it from an HIV-like virus. "

72 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Annoying at night... by Roogna · · Score: 4, Funny

    From my experience in life, my cats always liked trying to wake me up in the middle of the night. So now they'll be giving off light too? Great. Not an improvement.

    1. Re:Annoying at night... by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      It would really freak out any visitors at night. Go to sleep at night right when you are about to fall asleep you are in a half daze. You feel a bit of a movement then there is a glowing cat staring you down.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Annoying at night... by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm glad I quit doing hallucinogens a long time ago. Reality is getting to be just too damned weird as it is.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    3. Re:Annoying at night... by deglr6328 · · Score: 1

      Oh fer cri, it's 2011 people, we've been doing this kind of thing for DECADES. The cat isn't self luminous, it's NOT BIOLUMINESCENT, IT'S FLUORESCENT.

      It does get me to thinking though, are there any phosphorescent proteins known?

      --
      - "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
    4. Re:Annoying at night... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2

      I'm sure it's only a soft glow, and it will make it harder to trip over or accidentally kick them in the dark. That would be a big safety improvement, especially when they try to get your attention by zig-zagging just in front of your swinging feet in total darkness.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    5. Re:Annoying at night... by Reverand+Dave · · Score: 3, Informative

      The little neon tetra's at the pet store they sell for a buck each have phosphorescent proteins from jellyfish in them. The don't glow brightly, but they do glow.

      --
      I got here through a series of tubes
    6. Re:Annoying at night... by user+flynn · · Score: 1

      I'm glad I quit doing hallucinogens a long time ago.

      You sure about that? After all, you think you read this comment.

      --
      In the distance you hear an ominous moo.
    7. Re:Annoying at night... by deglr6328 · · Score: 1

      Mmmmmno, they don't. The fish are FLUORescent, not PHOSPHORescent. They're transfected with GFP like these cats. Hence the name GFP: green fluorescent protein.

      FLUORESCENCE PHOSPHORescence ELECTROluminescence GALVANOluminescence BIOLUMinescence

      All these phenomena are distinct. I'm wondering if anyone has ever heard of any naturally occurring PHOSphorescent molecules.

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      - "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
    8. Re:Annoying at night... by deglr6328 · · Score: 1

      Oh, I guess /. doesn't render =/= signs, like the ones that were supposed to appear in between all those terms in my last msg. Megalamesville. C'mon, what is this 1997?

      --
      - "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
  2. Not impressed. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just some monochromatic green glow. Call me when the skin of the cat is a 1920x1080p display with 24bit color.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Not impressed. by dintech · · Score: 2

      That 120px is for the "I can haz radiation?" caption.

    2. Re:Not impressed. by Steauengeglase · · Score: 2

      Wait, Nyan Cat is the cure for AIDS? The meme circle is complete.

    3. Re:Not impressed. by djdanlib · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's probably going to take a while to decide on the cabling standard.

      The quarreling feline-luminescence-transport camps are currently divided between CAT-5meow, CAT-6, High Definition Meow Interface and DisplayPurr-t.

      Also, the mouse compatibility bug is being worked, but resolution appears to be a ways out still.

    4. Re:Not impressed. by hierophanta · · Score: 1

      i would have loved to have modded this up, good work sir.

    5. Re:Not impressed. by EnsilZah · · Score: 1

      Call me when you can display captions directly on the cat.
      I mean without that whole messy staple-gun business.

  3. Glow-in-the-dark ??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why am I suddenly reminded of the John Ritter movie, "Skin Deep"?

    1. Re:Glow-in-the-dark ??? by Hsien-Ko · · Score: 1

      Nevermind that, why am I reminded of the Gilligan's Island episode where gilligan drinks a bunch of stuff and he glows at the end.

    2. Re:Glow-in-the-dark ??? by metalgamer84 · · Score: 1

      Logan's Run was the first thing that came to mind for me..odd.

    3. Re:Glow-in-the-dark ??? by DanTheStone · · Score: 1

      Really? I think of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

  4. please stop calling it "glowing" by v1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's fluorescing. Yes, technically that is a "glow" but glow is a lot more general term. All fluorescing items glow, but not all glowing items fluoresce. Most people that read "glow" will expect to turn out the lights and see a green cat without needing to shine an invisible special lighting on it.

    --
    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    1. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by sandytaru · · Score: 4, Funny

      If I had a cat like this I'd install the blacklights in my light fixtures and keep the normal lights off all the time.

      --
      Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
    2. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by v1 · · Score: 1

      If I had a cat like this I'd install the blacklights in my light fixtures and keep the normal lights off all the time.

      Or at least install some little strip blacklights under all the cabinet and cupboard kicks to keep the floor areas lit. I must admit having a green glowing cat would be a novel thing. I assume this is a genetic trait and I bet you could get big bucks for glowing kittens.

      I didn't see any mention of side-effects or other health issues in the article - you've got to wonder if there are any side-effects created such as blindness etc?

      --
      I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    3. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by Nerdos · · Score: 1

      I didn't RTFA, but I assume this is just a GFP hybridization. Basically you attach a gene that makes a green fluorescent protein to another gene, so that the protein product has a little extra bit that sticks out and produces green light when uv is shined on it. this enables, for example, to see where a particular protein trends to concentrate. It's a technique that had been used successfully in many organisms without any obvious effects.

    4. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      If you want to get technical, get technical. It's not "invisible" light you're shining on it. The maximum excitation wavelength for eGFP (which I assume they're using) is 488 nm, visible light is 390 to 750. You'd need to shine a blue light on them and be using filters to block the blue light from your eyes.

    5. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by sandytaru · · Score: 2

      Based on the pictures included in the article, it does not appear to affect their eye proteins, only the keratin in their fur.

      --
      Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
    6. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by Macman408 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And in the same strain of disappointing mainstream science reporting, basically everything I've read on this seems to focus on the "we made cats glow green" part, rather than the more serious part of the research, which is to protect against AIDS. The gene to make the cat's fur fluoresce green is just a marker so that they know which cats will also have the gene that could protect against AIDS, and can then run experiments to see if that gene works as they hope. That article seems to be better than average, in that it largely focuses on the AIDS part, and keeps the "omg glowing cats" restrained to the headline and a few spots in the body.

      I'm just waiting for the article about the research dog that harbors a cure for cancer, but more importantly, it can skateboard!

    7. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by adisakp · · Score: 2

      If I had a cat like this I'd install the blacklights in my light fixtures and keep the normal lights off all the time.

      If you have a cat and install blacklights, you might not like what you see. Cat urine glows. And you'd be surprised where cats get their urine. Sometimes they spray carpet and furniture, sometimes your bed or sheets, floorboards, all around the litter box etc. Seriously, taking a blacklight into a cat-owners home is usually not a pretty revelation.

    8. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by tinkerton · · Score: 1

      Nice. But hey this is even better. You can use the 'fluorescence virus' separately. When is it coming up for sale? Next time you see a cow glowing in the night, it wasn't me. Probably.

    9. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by Chris+Burke · · Score: 1

      And in the same strain of disappointing mainstream science reporting, basically everything I've read on this seems to focus on the "we made cats glow green" part, rather than the more serious part of the research, which is to protect against AIDS.

      Weird, because the first 3 articles I read off of Google News were entirely focused on the AIDS part, mentioning the glowing part only in the headline, and then in passing towards the end of the articles where they said they fluorescent gene was used to track where the modified genes were being expressed.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    10. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by slack_justyb · · Score: 1

      It's a technique that had been used successfully in many organisms without any obvious effects.

      Other than the 96% mortality rate for the procedure. Seriously, the process is incredibly far from a point of "no obvious effects."

      Also if you RTFA you will see that they have a slightly modified method which yields only a 77% mortality rate.

      Finally those that do go on to live have variations at the molecular level that still are poorly understood and side effects from those variations even less so. So let's not go simplifying this whole process by saying, "oh, ho hum just another insertion of genes into a cell." This whole process is about a trillion miles from normal. This trial was setup to see if they could insert genetic material that could prevent FIV. At least one live birth was hoped for and the fact that the yield was eleven live births is epic good news. With those that live the main goal of the trail can be conducted to see what happens when the kittens are given FIV and to see if they go on to develop AIDS. That being said a lot of people are going to be interested in the process with such a high yield, however I do want to point out, the high yield was a nice surprise not the condition that they were testing for in this trial.

    11. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      I don't fuck nasty whores or do IV drugs. I DO own a cat. Therefore, glowing cats are more relevant to my interests than AIDS cures.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    12. Re:please stop calling it "glowing" by DiEx-15 · · Score: 1

      I don't care. I want.

  5. Re:So.... by larry+bagina · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is a common belief in Africa (as it was in England in the 1800s) that fucking a virgin will cure STDs.

    But I have it on good authority that if you try to have sex with a lion, you will not die of AIDS.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  6. Re:So.... by demonbug · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is a common belief in Africa (as it was in England in the 1800s) that fucking a virgin will cure STDs.

    But I have it on good authority that if you try to have sex with a lion, you will not die of AIDS.

    Oh how wrong you are; and trust me, Acquired Intense Disembowelment Syndrome is not a fun way to go.

  7. Commercial application by ProfMobius · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why are those people always making those cool GM pets and never sell them ?
    I want a glowing cat ! Just sell them already, I'm sure there is a market for that !

    --
    EULA : By reading the above message, you agree that I now own your soul.
    1. Re:Commercial application by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Because everyone panics like little pussies or imposes their little misinformed values on entire populations. They have those glowing tropical fish, and California promptly banned them. One of the state commissioners, Sam Schuchat, an emotional twit, even came out publicly and said it want *not* science but a question of values- *his* values. *He* thought was wrong and spouted a pile of new age religious crap as justification.

    2. Re:Commercial application by jockeys · · Score: 1

      Glofish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glofish have been for sale for a number of years. I have a tank full and they glow nicely under a blacklight or a very actinic (12000K) light.

      --

      In Soviet Russia jokes are formulaic and decidedly non-humorous.
    3. Re:Commercial application by I(rispee_I(reme · · Score: 1

      In the vein of custom pets, the Belyaev experiment funds itself by selling the foxes-turned-dogs as pets.

  8. Hilarious! =D by LongearedBat · · Score: 2

    Seriously? Green glowing cats due to virus infection in a lab?!? Talk about comic book joke sci-fi... only for real. Totally awsome! Funnier than sharks with frikkin' lazer beams.

    When I was a kid I lamented the boring age I was born into. I woz wrong. Can't wait to see what the next few decades will bring. Or should we be afraid, very afraid?

    (I wonder how my cat would react if he met a glowing cat in the front yard at night.)

  9. Reminds me of an Asimov short story... by dingo_kinznerhook · · Score: 1

    Green Patches (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Patches), where cats on the spacecraft are born with green patches over their eyes, and it turns out to be an alien organism which has taken control of all life on the planet.

    --
    "God does not play Minecraft with the world." - Albert Einstein
  10. No dumbass. The bugs! by sgt+scrub · · Score: 1

    Everyone knows a glowing puss should be avoided, aids be damned. Wouldn't it be more useful to make bugs glow instead of the creatures that eat them? Glowing mosquitos. That is all I'm asking for.

    --
    Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
  11. New funding source by burnit999 · · Score: 1

    They should consider selling these kittens. Glowing kittens would command a high price and there is definitely a market out there for unusual and cute pets. Sell these little guys and reinvest the money into more research. People already give large charitable donations, this would help encourage more people to give. "Give to a good cause and get a kick ass glowing kitten :3"

  12. I only have one problem with this... by idbeholda · · Score: 1

    Nowhere in the article did they mention where I could obtain one of these glowing kittens.

  13. On the other hand by Moraelin · · Score: 1

    On the other hand, I can see furries being all over this. "No, really, you'll be ok if you wear this glowing cat suit" :p

    --
    A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
  14. Cross breed them with the Kitlers ... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

    ... and we will have really scary critters jack-pawing around . . . http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/cgi-bin/seigmiaow.pl

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  15. Bad news for kittens... by Gavin+Scott · · Score: 1

    From TFA:

    The method's efficiency is only half the story, however. When the researchers tried to infect blood cells from the genetically modified kittens with FIV, the virus didn't replicate well. Poeschla and colleagues next plan to test whether the cats are resistant to FIV, or, if not, whether they are less likely to develop feline AIDS after infection.

    "I think cats will become easier to utilize as a model organism now that you can manipulate the genome," VandeWoude says. "They're not going to replace mice, but it gives another tool to scientists."

    G.

    1. Re:Bad news for kittens... by sandytaru · · Score: 1

      No, this is GOOD NEWS. FIV is the number one reason many cats in shelters are put to death - it was conflated with HIV and since it is transmissible through bites, FIV positive cats are often considered "un-adoptable" and killed, since they have an unknowable lifespan. If these little guys are resistant to FIV because of this protein, it might mean additional promising avenues of research for this disease - and eventually a cure.

      --
      Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
  16. Didn't they do this with a dog a few months back? by AJH16 · · Score: 1

    How is this the first carnivore they did this with? Is this old news? I read about this with a dog several months ago.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/27/us-korea-dog-idUSTRE76Q1MK20110727

    --
    AJ Henderson
  17. Re:Hilarious! =D by Culture20 · · Score: 2

    (I wonder how my cat would react if he met a glowing cat in the front yard at night.)

    Depends on how it smells. Cats may be sight based for prey, but they're very scent based when dealing with each other.

  18. You mean.. by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 1

    They're not *supposed* to do that.

    --
    Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
  19. New AIDS test? by TheFakeMcCoy · · Score: 1

    I'll just turn off this here light and let's see if you glow or not. And seriously why is it that they are making everything glow in these tests, how about making a cat that can talk, or breathe underwater but no there must have been a heck of a sale on the genes that make stuff glow and some scientist is stuck in lab thinking what are we going to do with it all

    1. Re:New AIDS test? by need4mospd · · Score: 1

      I'll just turn off this here light and let's see if you glow or not.

      Vanilla Ice unavailable for comment...

  20. Re:Finally a cat I can take to a rave party! by Hartree · · Score: 2

    "Now if I can just keep them from running away from all the bass..."

    I've seen a lynx that pulled the person holding his leash into the rave dance with him, and was having quite a time investigating all the weird stuff going on in there.

    His name was Cody, and he was an educational animal for Animals for Awareness. They'd take him to schools in the Chicago area so the kids could see him. Incredibly cool critter. Very personable (a lot of lynxes are a bit skittish).

  21. Re:So.... by obergfellja · · Score: 1

    according to the way they thought how aids was spread, do a monkey or gay guy, you get aids... do a pussy or a cat, you get the opposite?

  22. Makes not to self... by Chrisq · · Score: 1

    Makes not to self... Never have unprotected sex with a glowing cat.

  23. Re:Hilarious! =D by wondershit · · Score: 1

    A little while ago we had something similar: fluorescent dogs. The interesting thing with the dogs is that you can turn the effect on and off depending on what drugs you mix into their food...

  24. What about 2007? by elistan · · Score: 1

    "the first time this method has worked in a carnivore"? Eh? Here's a report of glowing cats from 2007: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9833107-1.html

    Hard to tell what the veracity of the South Korean report is, though, and what sort of technique they used. So maybe "this method" really is new?

    1. Re:What about 2007? by _0xd0ad · · Score: 2

      That was done via SCNT (aka cloning). This was done by using a virus to inject the modified gene into an egg cell, and the success rate is around an order of magnitude higher than it is for SCNT, but it's the first time it's been successfully done with a carnivore.

      Yes, I rtfa:

      the only proven way of getting a new gene into a cat, somatic cell nuclear transfer, is tricky ... The strategy works in only a fraction of cases. In cats it's been used to create glowing kittens with no other traits, just proof that it can be made to work.

      Poeschla and his colleagues turned to a different method—using a virus to carry genes into an egg cell—that had worked in animals including mice and cows but never been successful in a carnivore. ... The 23% success rate is much higher than the typical 3% seen with somatic cell nuclear transfer

  25. Re:great... by pspahn · · Score: 2

    I dissected a cat in high school biology.

    Circle of life, bro; deal with it.

    --
    Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
  26. AIDS research my butt by The+Immutable · · Score: 1
  27. In other words by assertation · · Score: 1

    Experts say the advance could make the cat a valuable new genetic modelâ"and potentially protect it from an HIV-like virus. "

    In other words, they are going to expose animals just like your pet to HIV and then vivisect them.

  28. A blinding blue night-light by tepples · · Score: 1

    So your cats will only wake you up if you have a blinding blue night-light

    You mean like the power indicator LED on a growing number of electronic devices?

    1. Re:A blinding blue night-light by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      No. The excitation light for a fluorophore is always going to be more intense and higher-energy than the emitted light, otherwise it would violate the laws of thermodynamics. If the LED light on your clock isn't bright enough to wake you up, the light emitted from your cat will not be bright enough to wake you up.

    2. Re:A blinding blue night-light by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      I guess a black light might work, that's true. The maximum excitation for GFP is 488nm, which is well within the visible spectrum, but googling black light and GFP showed it does have that effect.

  29. fake picture by bolthole · · Score: 1

    The picture of the kitty looks fake. Looks more like under-lit glow lamp, rather than internal glow. (ie: how exactly are its CLAWS glowing? I think not...)

    1. Re:fake picture by sandytaru · · Score: 2

      Uh... it's a fluorescent glow, not an internal glow. The fluorescent protein is bound to keratin, the protein that makes up a cat's fur and claws. These are more accurately described as "blacklight reactive kitties."

      --
      Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
  30. Re:Sleeping with a Virgin by BluBrick · · Score: 1

    Magical Fuck Frocks - Is that what they're calling garmies these days?

    --
    Ahh - My eye!
    The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
  31. Saw a glowing cat once. by boddhisatva · · Score: 1

    At a party back in the 70's. John Lennon was there. He saw it too.

  32. Re:I see the sociopaths are out in force... by FAB10 · · Score: 1

    I definitely agree with you.

  33. Please make your ass glowing so.... by FAB10 · · Score: 1
    Poor cats!!!

    Dear scientist, please make your ass glowing so I can find it in the dark........

  34. 96% mortality? by tinkerton · · Score: 1

    I suppose it's a bad idea then to make it mandatory for traffic cops. I suppose the part where they have to be naked also wouldn't go down well though.

  35. that is abuse by KingBenny · · Score: 1

    do your research on glowing humans, leave cats alone, you should all die horribly of aids and cancer for testing on animals, if not i will gladly shoot you, just send me a card with name and adress

    --
    Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?