Genetically modified ‘glow cat’ for HIV/AIDS research

A researcher in US has produced three "glowing" cats through genetic engineering. He used a virus to carry the gene ,green fluorescent protein (GFP) , which was inserted into the eggs that have produced these cats. The GFP gene has got proteins which "fluoresce when illuminated with certain frequencies of light", hence the cats actually glow!

“The application of the new technology suggested in this paper is to develop the use of genetically-modified cats for the study of FIV( feline immunodeficiency virus-a very close relative of HIV to which cats are susceptible) , providing valuable information for the study of AIDS. This is potentially valuable but the uses of genetically modified cats as models for human diseases are likely to be limited and only justified if other models – for example in more commonly used laboratory animals, like mice and rats – are not suitable”,said professors Helen Sang and Bruce Whitelaw of the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh.

Data from news-medical.net