'Fluorescent fish' give the green light to GM pets
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday June 15, 2003
The Observer UK
Scientists have created the ultimate pet: genetically modified fish that glow in the dark. In future, there will be no need for aquarium lights - fluorescent fish will provide their own illumination.
And that is just the start. Scientists believe Night Pearl bio-fish represent the shape of pets to come. Our household animals will come with extra genes that will stop them shedding fur or triggering allergic reactions. And when one dies, its owner will simply clone it.
But the prospect of GM pets has outraged pet dealers. The nation's aquarium industry last week said it had backballed the Night Pearl. 'This is the thin end of the wedge,' said Keith Davenport, chief executive of the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association. 'You could put all sorts of different genes in animals and do all sorts of damage.'
The Night Pearl began as a research tool created by HJ Tsai, a professor at National Taiwan University. He was looking for a way to make fish organs easier to see when studying them, and isolated a gene for a fluorescent protein that he had extracted from jellyfish and inserted it into the genome of a zebrafish. To his astonishment, the jellyfish gene made whole zebrafish glow.
Prof Tsai thought no more about it until he showed a slide at a conference - where it caught the eye of the Taikong Corporation. The fish produce company agreed to fund his experiments in exchange for the use of his techniques.
Now the first fruits of this collaboration have gone on sale in Taiwan and will soon appear in the US. The Night Pearls glow in different red and green patterns thanks to genes from jellyfish and marine coral. Now the team is working on a glowing dragon fish, which many Asians believe is a lucky species.
Prof Tsai does not worry about his fish contaminating local populations of zebrafish, as more than 90 per cent have been sterilised. However, marine researchers say that this is not enough to prevent GM fish polluting natural populations.
And that is the scenario that worries British aquarium enthusiasts. 'One idea being explored is to add genes - taken from cold water fish - that will allow tropical fish to live in unheated aquarium,' said Derek Lambert, editor of Today's Fishkeeper. 'Just imagine what would happen if they got released. You could end up with strange coloured GM tropical fish in our waters.'
Scientists have not restricted their GM work to aquarium creatures. In other experiments, scientists have attempted to engineer cats that do not produce allergens.
Several US biotechnologists are working on cloning pets. However, customers could get a shock. Last year, scientists in Texas created Cc, for Copy Cat, but the resulting kitten looked nothing like its originator.
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday June 15, 2003
The Observer UK
Scientists have created the ultimate pet: genetically modified fish that glow in the dark. In future, there will be no need for aquarium lights - fluorescent fish will provide their own illumination.
And that is just the start. Scientists believe Night Pearl bio-fish represent the shape of pets to come. Our household animals will come with extra genes that will stop them shedding fur or triggering allergic reactions. And when one dies, its owner will simply clone it.
But the prospect of GM pets has outraged pet dealers. The nation's aquarium industry last week said it had backballed the Night Pearl. 'This is the thin end of the wedge,' said Keith Davenport, chief executive of the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association. 'You could put all sorts of different genes in animals and do all sorts of damage.'
The Night Pearl began as a research tool created by HJ Tsai, a professor at National Taiwan University. He was looking for a way to make fish organs easier to see when studying them, and isolated a gene for a fluorescent protein that he had extracted from jellyfish and inserted it into the genome of a zebrafish. To his astonishment, the jellyfish gene made whole zebrafish glow.
Prof Tsai thought no more about it until he showed a slide at a conference - where it caught the eye of the Taikong Corporation. The fish produce company agreed to fund his experiments in exchange for the use of his techniques.
Now the first fruits of this collaboration have gone on sale in Taiwan and will soon appear in the US. The Night Pearls glow in different red and green patterns thanks to genes from jellyfish and marine coral. Now the team is working on a glowing dragon fish, which many Asians believe is a lucky species.
Prof Tsai does not worry about his fish contaminating local populations of zebrafish, as more than 90 per cent have been sterilised. However, marine researchers say that this is not enough to prevent GM fish polluting natural populations.
And that is the scenario that worries British aquarium enthusiasts. 'One idea being explored is to add genes - taken from cold water fish - that will allow tropical fish to live in unheated aquarium,' said Derek Lambert, editor of Today's Fishkeeper. 'Just imagine what would happen if they got released. You could end up with strange coloured GM tropical fish in our waters.'
Scientists have not restricted their GM work to aquarium creatures. In other experiments, scientists have attempted to engineer cats that do not produce allergens.
Several US biotechnologists are working on cloning pets. However, customers could get a shock. Last year, scientists in Texas created Cc, for Copy Cat, but the resulting kitten looked nothing like its originator.
