When scientists insert rhesus macaque genes plus jellyfish genes
into unfertilized cat eggs, the cats that result post-fertilization
are resistant to feline immunodeficiency virus, which causes feline
AIDS. They also glow fluorescent green under "special" lights. What
if you do this to human eggs?
I don't really know, so let's just
stick to talking about cat eggs. So yeah: Researchers at
the Mayo
Clinic have been creating glow-in-the-dark,
FIV-resistant cats as part of their research on HIV/AIDS and other
diseases. Through gamete-targeted lentiviral transgenesis, the
official term for "messing with genes and cat eggs," the scientists
don't actually cure the cats of FIV but gain a better understanding
of what factors might thwart gene therapies. The glow effect helps
scientists to track the
activity of the
cats' modified genes and cells.
As Mayo researcher Dr. Eric
Poeschla told
LiveScience, "We want to see if we can protect the
domestic cat against its AIDS virus, if we can protect any species,
eventually including ours, against its own AIDS virus." His group
hopes their research can protect both humans and cats from their
respective -IVs. Seems like the glow-in-the-dark aspect could also
benefit both species by enabling humans to see their pet cats late
at night en route to the bathroom, thereby preventing tripping
accidents and cat-smotherings.
And yes, the glow-cats have names:
TgCat1, TgCat2, and TgCat3.