1/13/2006: Fluorescent pigs

Not one, but TWO lurkers (thanks, gents!) sent this BBC story of Taiwanese scientists who have inserted DNA from jellyfish into pigs, creating...



Glow-in-the-dark pigs.

This is not the first time this has been done. In fact, it's not even the first set of fluorescent pigs featured on IotD. From the story:

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, the researchers say.

And this is useful how, exactly? Partly for genetic research, I guess, but mostly because it makes you grin at a Friday IotD. Happy Friday.

How is this useful? UT, you surprise me! If some pigs were stampeding in the dark of night, heading straight for you, you'd know how useful this is! For shame.

Phew ... no blood! 'Twas all getting a bit much! One thing though...if theyre glowing intenally, how do the poor lil buggers ever get to sleep?

looks like the one in the middle is laughing. maybe he just found out he's a glow in the dark pig.

Put a UV bulb in the fridge and go straight to the bacon for that midnight snack. Mmmm.....green meat....

They all look happy. Like pigs in, well, chit.

Between this and the cyclopic kitten, i think we should find better nuclear waste dumps.

Well, we're half way to green eggs and ham now.

I saw some red fish the other day that are genetically altered to be fluorescent. Cool.

Now i wounder ( And I am sorry for this ) but if they are green thur and thru ,
is their poop green and glowy ??????

Soon we will see little green men too..

Could be the rave in the pig poaching 'industry'. If I were one of these pigs I would feel slightly vulnerable.

I've been expecting news of a genetic suntan hitting the market soon. This seems to have crossed the threshold well. Why not?

Great pic. Another cheerfully interesting Friday. Thank you!

Glowing Pets, Leather, Vegans, Honey & Rationalization

so, after several years of spying on you guys from afar, and forbidding myself to become a member out of fear that i'd never get anything else done, I have finally decided to officially join the family.

just yesterday, i was looking into purchasing some glofish (i do believe there was a IotD with these geneticly altered fish way back when), but given this new scientific breakthrough, i've decided to reconsider my options. additionally, i propose that we collect some of the eggs from the aformentioned fish and have a slightly modified green eggs (caviar) and ham. Though i'm sure if we search hard enough, we may be able to locate some radioactive chicken eggs. Who's with me?!

also, regarding animal activists who don't wear fur...
i have several friends who are vegans (though they're not crazy activists with spraypaint cans and definitely not part of this new sect of animal activism that seems to condone human murder in order to make their point more clear). they do not wear leather or use any products that are tested on animals. they are even wary of most soy cheeses and soy products because many contain casein which is derived from milk. They don't even eat honey because honey is made using bees that stay on the bee farms (or whatever they are) because they stick by their queen. Thus, from what my friends tell me, they clip the wings of the female bees.

Interestingly, it's not always eating animals that's the issue. My friends would probably never eat an animal but they do understand that it's not entirely unreasonable. Mainly, it's today's factory farming that is really horrible. The animals are kept in conditions that are horribly inhumane and there are no laws regarding the treatment of animals used for fur, hide, or food unless it pertains to the effect it will have on human health. If you treated your pets the way these animals are treated, you'd be slapped with a megafine and probably some jail time. I've actually read up on some of this in an ethics class i oncen took, and I do have to agree that the treatment of animals int hese situations is REALLY awful.

However, I say this as i take a bite of my non-free range, non-organic, antibibotic-laden & MIGHT TASTY barbecue CHICKEN sandwich. And i've been boiling a nice red tea with some freshly chopped ginger and as soon as i'm done this sammich, i'm gonna pour some HONEY in, curl up on the sofa, and watch Team American (which I now own! hooray!) all by my lonesome. Apparently, when you have a very bad cold, no one wants to come over and play with you! So, ummm, I need this chicken! and the honey! for...ummmm...psychological well-being!

oops...QUEEN bees

hmmm, in the above post, i meant to say QUEEN bees where i said FEMALE bees, but if i recall correctly from my ethology class, the queen is the only female in the hive. however, i could have totally made that up just now! so don't go spreading this rumor before you confirm it.

These pigs are scarier than the cyclopean kitten.

Oh, wait! I get it, it's Friday, but it's Friday the 13th.

That must be it.

Hi, Sneaky8! Glad you've come to play (even if you do have a cold)

Sneaky8, I missed the post(s) you snuck in while I was composing mine.
Welcome to the Cellar. You must be sick to join this crowd....OH yeah, you are. Well, you're in now.....in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, etc, etc. Hope you'll still love us when you're fever goes down.

Glow in the dark pigs.
Now pigfarmers don't need a flashlight to find a date for the weekend.......

The key thing about these pigs is they make a specific, human inserted, protein in all of their parts. The fact that they're green and photogenic makes it a news story, but the reason that Green Flourescent Protein (GFP) is used in these sorts of experiments is because it's easy to detect; you only have to shine the right light on the pigs. That's a fast and cheap experiment. Furthermore, GFP is also a small and easy to express protein so it's easier to work with.
From a basic research standpoint, no one knows what experiments will pay off in the long run, but having pigs make specific proteins may eventually be useful in organ transplantation from pig to human, or the knowledge may be useful in gene therapy of some sort.

Good point, plus you never know when a transgenic component can turn out to be part of group of genomes that work in concert or are dependent on others.

This post was lost in the move.

Uh huh. Okay. What I want to know is do the pig farts fluoresce under UV light? To summarize and paraphrase Electrophile: making pigs glow is easy. When the pig farts glow, then we'll talk.

Only a matter of time before they make glowing people. Especially because of the <a href="http://www.bmezine.com/spc/experiences/glow/">complaints associated with the lower-tech version</a>.

Um, some of those people have inner lip tatoos, WTF??? Never heard of those before. Isn't the point of a tatoo so that other people see it? (if you want)

That would be the same as having your butt tattooed. The people who get to see it is your choice.

I guess it becomes visible if you pout outrageously...

Glowing inner lip tattooing is nowhere near as extreme a body modification as <a href="http://www.bmezine.com/pierce/11-surface/uvula1.html">uvula piercing</a>. (Safe for work unless it makes you whimper loudly enough to annoy your cow-orkers.)

Say, what would really be cool would be to have a fluorescent green uvula. Especially if one did not actually have to insert a UV light into one's mouth to see it light up.

Why would you want to look in your mouth when you're munching a ........oh.....uvula. Nevermind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnhowdy Negative......no racial slur intended.

Unless they are involved in the international conspiracy against whiteness.

(you knew I was going to say it. you thought it too. I just saved you the time.)