Claim:
Researchers have genetically modified cats such that they glow inexperienced beneath ultraviolet gentle.
Rating:
Context:
In 2011, Mayo Clinic researchers genetically modified cats as a part of a research involving feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV, the cat model of HIV). Those cats had been additionally injected with a jellyfish gene accountable for bioluminescence — a standard technique utilized by scientists to trace genes. (If it glows, it reveals.) Though the analysis goal was to not fluoresce cats, felines that give off a inexperienced glow beneath ultraviolet gentle had been a byproduct of the research.
Glowing inexperienced kittens illuminated from inside appears to be a narrative ripe for science fiction, and certainly it appeared that method when web customers posted claims of such furry felines on social media channels, together with in posts shared on Reddit in 2018 and once more in 2022:
The above declare refers to a 2011 research revealed within the peer-reviewed journal Nature Methods titled, “Antiviral restriction factor transgenesis in the domestic cat,” which described analysis carried out by Mayo Clinic scientists learning feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), a virus much like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes an AIDS-like illness in cats.
Though the research purpose was not purely to create glowing cats, mentioned consequence was a byproduct of the analysis methodology. We have rated this declare True.
As a part of their analysis, scientists developed an immunization technique by gamete-targeted lentiviral transgenesis, or genome modification, wherein a gene present in rhesus macaque monkeys referred to as TRIMCyp and recognized to dam FIV was inserted into feline oocytes (eggs) earlier than sperm fertilization.
To monitor TRIMCyp in felines, scientists additionally injected cat cells with inexperienced fluorescent protein (GFP), a marker protein produced by jellyfish that emits a inexperienced fluorescence when uncovered to ultraviolet gentle that’s generally used to trace a cell or gene (on this case, TRIMCyp) because it progresses. If the cell being studied produces a inexperienced fluorescence, scientists infer that the cell expresses the focused gene as effectively, in keeping with the Embryo Project Encyclopedia at Arizona State University. .
And sure, it additionally makes the cats glow inexperienced, in keeping with a Sept. 11, 2011 news release.
(Nature Methods)
Gene-edited cats additionally produced kittens with proteins that glowed inexperienced, which researchers mentioned indicated that related gene therapies could also be superior to fight immunodeficiency illness attributable to both virus. At the time, the research was coated by quite a lot of respected information retailers, together with Live Science, BBC, Smithsonian, and The Guardian, to call just a few.
But lab-manipulated kitties aren’t the one animals recognized to glow inexperienced. In truth, there are a wide variety of animals that additionally naturally glow when uncovered to UV gentle, from scorpions and spiders to frogs and marsupials.
And sure, even cats.
According to analysis revealed on Oct. 4, 2023, in The Royal Society Publishing, a minimum of 125 species of mammals exhibit the organic phenomenon of fluorescence beneath gentle – sure animals greater than others. Electromagnetic gentle is mirrored in proteins or pigments in scales, pores and skin, and fur. As a end result, mammals with white and light-colored fur fluoresce greater than these with darker pigmentation. At the identical time, aquatic species just like the platypus exhibited much less illumination than people who burrow, dwell in timber, or on land.
“Based on our results, we think fluorescence is very common in mammals. In fact, it is likely the default status of hair unless it is heavily pigmented. This doesn’t mean fluorescence has a biological function—it may just be an artifact of the structural properties of unpigmented hair,” wrote the research authors in a news release on the time.
(Royal Publishing Society)
Sources:
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“Glowing Cats Shed Light on Aids.” BBC News, 12 Sept. 2011. www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-14882008.
Jha, Alok, and science correspondent. “Glow Cat: Fluorescent Green Felines Could Help Study of HIV.” The Guardian, 11 Sept. 2011. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/sep/11/genetically-modified-glowing-cats.
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Travouillon, Kenny, et al. From Glowing Cats to Wombats, Fluorescent Mammals Are Much More Common than You’d Think. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-cats-wombats-fluorescent-mammals-common.html. Accessed 25 Nov. 2023.
—. From Glowing Cats to Wombats, Fluorescent Mammals Are Much More Common than You’d Think. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-cats-wombats-fluorescent-mammals-common.html. Accessed 25 Nov. 2023.
Travouillon, Kenny J., et al. “All-a-Glow: Spectral Characteristics Confirm Widespread Fluorescence for Mammals.” Royal Society Open Science, vol. 10, no. 10, Oct. 2023, p. 230325. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230325.
Wongsrikeao, Pimprapar, et al. “Antiviral Restriction Factor Transgenesis in the Domestic Cat.” Nature Methods, vol. 8, no. 10, Oct. 2011, pp. 853–59. www.nature.com, https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.1703.
—. “Antiviral Restriction Factor Transgenesis in the Domestic Cat.” Nature Methods, vol. 8, no. 10, Oct. 2011, pp. 853–59. www.nature.com, https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.1703.
