Add a black light and the cat glows red.
(Credit: Gyeongsang National University)This may be the fluffiest, freakiest thing since Alba, the green fluorescent bunny from artist Eduardo Kac.
South Korean scientists tinkering with fluorescence protein genes say they have bred white Turkish Angora cats to glow red under ultraviolet light.
The pair of cats cloned from a mother's altered skin cell are nearly a year old. The researchers told the AFP that their work could help unravel mysteries of some 250 genetic diseases suffered by both humans and cats. The findings also could be used to clone endangered tigers, leopards, and other animals, the report said.
However, it's unlikely that such psychedelic-looking cats would come to pet stores anytime soon. Debates about the ethics and safety of concocting cloned and transgenic animals continue to rage.
Genetic Savings & Clone, which charged between $32,000 to $50,000 for cloning cats, shut shop last year. But Spot's or Mittens' genes can be banked in a cryogenic chamber for $1,500, and hypoallergenic kittens cost between $6,000 and $28,000.
GloFish glow, too.
(Credit: GloFish)California officials in 2004 banned the sale of GloFish, the world's first transgenic pet.
British scientists injected jellyfish genes into chickens and pigs to make them glow several years ago. Last year, Taiwanese scientists said they also spawned glow-in-the-dark pigs.
The cat experiment took place at Gyeongsang National University with funding from the Korean government.
Perhaps the biggest cloning story to hail from South Korea was the revelation in 2005 that a prominent doctor had faked a breakthrough in cloning humans.
(Via miguel23)
"Mother of Satan"--that's what bomb makers call peroxide-based explosives like triacetone triperoxide (TATP), which are easy to make and hard to detect. But a new pen-shaped detector doodad offers hope for those doing time in airport security lines.
(Credit:
Acro)
The Peroxide Explosives Tester, or PET, by Acro is supposed to help security personnel quickly and accurately identify peroxide-based explosives, from diacetone diperoxide and hexam-methalene-triperoxidediamine to the notorious TATP, a component allegedly used by Mr. Goofy in the shoe bomb he tried to detonate on a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001.
Acro announced this month that it had licensed the explosives testing kit technology from Life Science Research Israel, a subsidiary of the Israel Institute for Biological Research.
Peroxide is what bombers from London and Madrid to Casablanca and the streets of Israel all have in common nowadays, and unfortunately we're not talking about their roots. It's also what caused the hoopla over liquid explosives in London in 2006 and subsequent banning of all carry-on bottled goods.
The chemical generally comes as an innocuous-appearing solid that looks like sugar, a class of explosive that's almost impossible to detect with dogs or conventional high-tech methods. To make matters worse, it's easy to whip up at home with ingredients available at any supermarket.
Testing with the new device sounds easy enough: Insert the sample into PET and inject the secret sauce; if it turns green-blue, dive for cover. The company says it's also disposable and nonpolluting, but there's no word on how it's expected to be applied to mass screenings.
There's already a constituency opposed to readmitting fluids to your carry-on--the people who charge $2 for a pint of water in the departure lounge.
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