Uruguayan scientists have created the first genetically altered, phosphorescent sheep.
Forget the glow sticks, next time you go to a rave just bring a flock of glow-in-the-dark sheep. Surely more ridiculous things have happened. Well, maybe not.
The scientists at the Animal Reproduction Institute of Uruguay implanted genes from a species of jellyfish that naturally glow in the dark into unsuspecting sheep embryos. The nine glow-in-the-dark sheep were born in October 2012 at the institute.
"We did not use a protein of medical interest or to help with a particular medicine because we wanted to fine-tune the technique,” the leader of the research team, Alejo Menchaca, said. “We used the green protein because the color is easily identifiable in the sheep's tissues.”
The experiment has no real medical benefits at the moment, the scientists apparently just wanted to have the wildest black light pasture party of all time.
The hope is, however, that eventually the genes implanted into the embryos may lead to the manufacture of compounds that could save lives and be genetically programmed into the animals' milk. Tests are being run on cows and goats as well.
The nine sheep apparently behave like normal sheep, except when hit with ultraviolet light, of course. But otherwise they seem unaffected, scientists said.
"They are out in the field as any other sheep, but in better conditions, not the traditional breeding system. They are well looked after, well fed and very much loved," Menchaca said.
The Animal Reproduction Institute of Uruguay teamed with the Pasteur Institute, a French nonprofit science organization, for the experiment.
"Our focus is generating knowledge and making it public so the scientific community can be informed and help in the long march to generate tools so humans can live better. We’re not out in the market to sell technology,” Menchaca said.
Even if they wanted to sell it — and come on, there has to be a shepherd out there somewhere into Skrillex — the science is not quite ready to be on the market without some more testing.
“The technique is complex and demands much work, which is one of the limiting factors. So despite the global interest and demand it is still a slow process,” Menchaca said.
