Taiwan breeds green-glowing pigs

[damnhooligan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/4605202.stm - Article and pictures within.

Taiwan breeds green-glowing pigs
By Chris Hogg
BBC News, Hong Kong

Picture of transgenic pigs supplied by Taiwan National University, courtesy Wu Shinn-chih
When lit up in the dark, the pigs glow green
Scientists in Taiwan say they have bred three pigs that glow in the dark.

They claim that while other researchers have bred partly fluorescent pigs, theirs are the only pigs in the world which are green through and through.

The pigs are transgenic, created by adding genetic material from jellyfish into a normal pig embryo.

The researchers hope the pigs will boost the island's stem cell research, as well as helping with the study of human disease.

The researchers, from National Taiwan University's Department of Animal Science and Technology, say that although the pigs glow, they are otherwise no different from any others.

Taiwan is not claiming a world first. Others have bred partially fluorescent pigs before. But the researchers insist the three pigs they have produced are better.

They are the only ones that are green from the inside out. Even their heart and internal organs are green, they say.

To create them, DNA from jellyfish was added to about 265 pig embryos which were implanted in eight different pigs.

Four of the pigs became pregnant and three male piglets were born three months ago.

Green generation

In daylight the researchers say the pigs' eyes, teeth and trotters look green. Their skin has a greenish tinge.

In the dark, shine a blue light on them and they glow torch-light bright.

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.

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

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.

Some may criticize them because they're playing God. But when I sat down to think about it, I realized were I God, my first order of business would be to make glow-in-the-dark pigs. No question.

Let the pig jokes commence!

[Anarky]

Didn't they already do that with rats? I remember something about green glowing rats. And the next question, of course, is "Why?" which will most likey be answered with "Because we can!"

As much as I approve of mutating plants to grow them in places where they normally can't be grown, I don't like this. They're playing around with life and all that (although the pigs probably aren't aware of it). And it's useless. Who can use a green pig anyways?

[damnhooligan]

Originally Posted by Anarky

Who can use a green pig anyways?

[Anarky]

Okay, I didn't think of the Grinch. So we got one customer in this world (who just might be imaginary, but scientists have yet to find out), but does this justify green pigs?

[BartAllen]

Originally Posted by Anarky

Didn't they already do that with rats? I remember something about green glowing rats. And the next question, of course, is "Why?" which will most likey be answered with "Because we can!"

As much as I approve of mutating plants to grow them in places where they normally can't be grown, I don't like this. They're playing around with life and all that (although the pigs probably aren't aware of it). And it's useless. Who can use a green pig anyways?

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.

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

[Fledermaus]

I am aware of potatoes that glow green whenever they need to be watered... at least the glowing had some use, but pigs?

[Katie]

all I can think of is "Green Eggs and Ham"

[Voltron]

They're not just playing with their food... they're playing Godwith it.

[zkarlette]

I think they should be doing something better like looking for a cure for diseases instead of wasting their time with glowing pigs not only that , poor animals being treated like that.

[Raph's Girl]

Now pigs can sing "It's not easy being green"...or glowy....

Here's a picture of one of the pigs. It looks more like the pig's snout and hooves were painted on.

[Turtle Dove]

ewww..radioactive pork chops. Poor Porky and Hamton they no longer have a place on TV so they are forced to be test subjects for Taiwan

[Anarky]

Originally Posted by zkarlette

I think they should be doing something better like looking for a cure for diseases instead of wasting their time with glowing pigs not only that , poor animals being treated like that.

Heh, as weird as it sounds, but I guess the Glowpigs have a better life than most of the normal pigs. And after all, they're most likely not even aware of the fact that they glow.

[Voltron]

Originally Posted by zkarlette

I think they should be doing something better like looking for a cure for diseases instead of wasting their time with glowing pigs not only that , poor animals being treated like that.

Or creating super-delicious animals. Creatures with flavor far greater than that of average pigs, chickens, and bovine. I for one move that we genetically construct a pig's pancreas to produce barbeque sauce instead of insulin. Or a chicken's heart to pump teryaki instead of blood...


Think of the applications!

[Raph's Girl]

Ya know what the funniest part of all this is? The fact that the article about the glowing green pigs was written by a man named Chris Hogg!

As for creating animals that are already flavored...why not...we've got bananas that taste like apples.

[iris]

Originally Posted by Anarky

Heh, as weird as it sounds, but I guess the Glowpigs have a better life than most of the normal pigs. And after all, they're most likely not even aware of the fact that they glow.

I think they probably are aware of the fact that they glow. They wouldn't be aware that they're not supposed to glow. But if this genetic addition is as complete as the article indicates, I'd imagine the pigs would have vision issues. Glowing corneas may not be the best thing, yeah? But other than that it's unlikely they'd care much.

Scientists like to make things glow. It has purposes. Most of the time you just make something glow so you can see the "fate" of the glowy thing. For example, you might "stain" a certain type of molecule in a cell to see where it is after an experiment. If they transplant tissues from these pigs, you'd be able to see the "fate" of the transplanted cells and track them.


Plus, it's fun. And pretty. In the pic, the cytoskeleton (the scaffolding inside your cells) is stained to glow.

With the green pig, a main purpose may have been to see the extent of the genetic transformation. That could be useful if you want to do something like create a "normal" organ to transplant into someone, or if you wanted to... um... perform a genetic intervention, of sorts. Experiments like this pig refine the techniques needed to get results you want.

The best thing about theses pigs for the researchers, no doubt, is that a) making stuff glow is freakin' awesome, and b) it's a fabulous publicity stunt. I can hear the funding checks being cut as we speak.

[Ra]

....it's a wonder of the world Why the hell do they do things like glow-in-the-dark pigs instead of working on the cure for the common cold?

Well, there's no need to complain. Now if we're stuck in the woods at night, they can just send in the pigs to lead the way out

Either that, or the pigs turn carnivours *shifty eyes*

[Hannah]

That's pretty cool, except for the fact that theyre using them for testing.

TESTING ON ANIMALS IS BAD.

[VaughnMichael]

well atleast kermit and piggy will be the same color hahahha