Researchers from the University of Hawaii and two universities in Turkey have created rabbits that glow in the dark.
The effect is produced by injecting a florescent protein from jellyfish DNA into two rabbit embryos.
The experiment is about making sure the gene transfer works properly.
“It was just a marker to show that we can take a gene that was not originally in the animal, and now it exists in the animal and expresses,” said Dr. Stefan Moisyadi, associate professor at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Biogenesis Research.
The goal is to eventually introduce beneficial genes to larger animals, and the science could also be used in medicine.
“You can make enzymes in animals cheaper than in a factory,” Moisyadi told KITV.
The researchers are planning the birth of the first transgenic lamb in November. The rabbits come after mice were previously born with an alien gene.
The birth was in Istanbul, Turkey.
