Green Glowing Cats Assist AIDS Research
A strain of glowing green cats developed by scientists and resistant to the feline version of HIV is assisting researchers in developing gene therapy that would help humans block the disease, according to reports:
The study, published on Sunday in the journal Nature Methods, involved inserting monkey genes that block the virus into feline eggs, or oocytes, before they are fertilised. The scientists also inserted jellyfish genes that make the modified cells glow an eerie green colour - making the altered genes easy to spot.
Tests on cells taken from the cats show they are resistant to feline immunodeficiency virus, or FIV, which causes AIDS in cats.
Said Dr. Laurence Tiley of the University of Cambridge: “This technology can be applied to a wide range of species, for many of which there are clear applications and potential benefits. It will be interesting to see how enthusiastically this capability in cats is received and adopted by the HIV and neurobiological research communities and what other research opportunities it offers. A representative non-primate animal model would be a fantastic new tool for studying HIV pathogenesis.”
So to go bareback we need to create green homos???
Im not sure if I am into fluorescent twinks...
Posted by: Raul | Sep 12, 2011 11:31:41 AM
I am a little embarrassed to say it, but my first thought was the marketing opportunities available for glowing kitties. Although they would be somewhat limited if the cats only came in green.
Posted by: CanadianObserver | Sep 12, 2011 11:45:00 AM
Oh, what a sweet kitten.
Posted by: sleepy bear | Sep 12, 2011 12:13:55 PM
It would be nice to see an actual picture of one of these cats.
Posted by: anon | Sep 12, 2011 12:23:05 PM
Bless those kittens. Hopefully the research was done safely and healthily with the felines.
Posted by: Stan L | Sep 12, 2011 12:29:44 PM
That IS A picture of one of the cats. I'm reading the paper right now. The other picture in the linked article is another image from the paper.
I wish people would make a distinction between bioluminescence and fluorescence whenever these articles come up though. These cats do not spontaneously glow in the dark. They aren't bioluminescent like fireflies. They only fluoresce; they glow green when exposed to ultravioloet light like a glow in the dark poster. ...but not like glow in the dark paint, which is phosphorescent, rather than merely fluorescent, which these cats also aren't.
so, yea...
/nerd
Posted by: Blake | Sep 12, 2011 12:33:17 PM
LOL@ Raul.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Sep 12, 2011 12:35:32 PM
Thanks Blake, because I actually clicked to leave a comment for the sole reason of pointing that out :)
Posted by: eric | Sep 12, 2011 12:59:46 PM
Gene therapy targeting the CCR5 receptor (the doorway for HIV to enter the T4) is already in Phase I trials in the UK.
Posted by: QJ201 | Sep 12, 2011 1:23:09 PM
"Don't make my kitty angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry..."
Posted by: Jason | Sep 12, 2011 1:34:21 PM
A cat/monkey/jellyfish hybrid? Please, let it be friendly.
Posted by: Yeek | Sep 12, 2011 3:37:24 PM
@Canadianobserver fluorescent proteins come in a wide range of colours, but the most commonly used are GFP (green), YFP (yellow), and CFP (blue/cyan).
Posted by: LFB | Sep 12, 2011 4:35:42 PM
What's going to happen to these cats after the study is over? Animal research like this is incredibly disturbing.
Posted by: C. James | Sep 12, 2011 8:05:43 PM
Andy, you should take the promotional photo-op pic down and find a genuine picture of a cat in a steel cage.
Does anyone really think the test subjects are curled up together in a laboratory bedroom? These creatures are kept in cages, injected, drugged and intubated all so that you can eventually have sex without a condom some twenty years from now. Disgusting and shameful.
Posted by: TrailblazerCA | Sep 13, 2011 1:23:31 PM