Japanese Researchers Create Glow-In-The-Dark Mice
Japanese Researchers Create Glow-In-The-Dark Mice |
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It's true! -- Japanese scientists have created what they say are the world's first fluorescent mammals -- mice that glow in the dark in the interest of medical science.
The first generation of glowing green mice entered the world the second week in June at a laboratory in western Japan, after geneticists at Osaka University injected mouse embryos with the DNA of a species of North American bioluminescent jellyfish. When the mice are viewed under ultraviolet light, their bodies appear a gleaming green.
Professor Masaru Okabe and his team started the project four years ago in an effort to develop new methods to observe the internal development of fetuses.
Okabe says medical researchers will be able to use the technique in a variety of ways, including tracing white blood cells in cancer research.
"We have also developed the technology to make specific cells glow as markers, so the effects of research can be observed without killing the animals and opening them up," said Dr. Shuichi Yamada, a member of the team.
A scientist not involved in the project questioned what all of this means for science, predicting that researchers will still have to cut up the test mice to examine the full effects of any experiments.
"The marker technology has potential. But I have my doubts as to how significant a breakthrough it is for medical research," said Robert Shiurba, a biologist at Tokyo University. "They should have made the announcement on Halloween."
The vibrant hues of the experimental mice soon disappear when hair grows over their bodies, but their feet and mouths continue to glow well into adulthood.
Scientists may soon be able to use this same procedure to produce fluorescent rabbits and monkeys.
"The technique can be applied to other mammals, and since they are injected at the fertilized egg stage the effects will be transmitted to offspring," Yamada said.
The researchers believe the technology could "open the door to a more humane approach to medical research."
Biologists often cut open test animals to study what happens when they are injected with drugs and diseases, Yamada said. Now they could be able to peer into innards of the glowing baby rodents to trace the growth and progress of cells.
The mice glow strictly for science, Yamada said -- researchers have no intention of marketing them as novelty pets. -- Too bad! Wouldn't they be fun to have?
Okay, and for all you science types out there who are just drooling to make your own GFP mice in your secret basement/batcave laboratory, I've even gone and typed up the procedure.
Click here to open Pandora's box...
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