Glow Kitties

Orens, S. (2011).  Glow kitties.  Retrieved October 3, 2011, from http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2011/09/glow-kitties/

           

Researchers have been trying to figure out a way to stop FIV, a disease that is a menace to cats throughout the world.  Scientists have been researching FIV because it is very similar to HIV, a disease that affects humans.  Researchers believe that if they can cure FIV in cats, then they might be able to cure HIV in humans.  FIV can be terminated in a specific type of monkey, because their cells consist of a unique protein that cat cells don’t comprise of.  So to insert the proteins into the cat’s cells, they gave it egg cells that comprise of genes that make the unique proteins.  To make sure that their experiment worked they gave the cats another egg cell so they could tell if the egg cells did their job.  This additional egg cell consisted of genes that make the cats glow in the dark; and when the cat they inserted the egg cells into had a litter, the kittens were a bright yellow-green!  However, the scientists still aren’t sure whether or not the FIV-fighting egg cell worked.

I found the article amazing and intriguing, I learned a lot about FIV and HIV!  A glow in the dark cat sounds so cool!  If my dog could glow in the dark then I could take them for a walk in the middle of the night without tripping every other step.  This article made me wonder more about DNA and genetic mutation.  Could you genetically mutate a human without harming them?  If so, what changes could you make, could they have multiple arms, or wings, or maybe we could even glow in the dark too?  Do scientists believe they could inject the same protein-producing egg cells they injected into the cats, to humans to cure HIV?  This article really made me think about DNA.