Genetic Scientists Create Glow In The Dark Beagle For Medical Research

This would be a great dog to have while walking through the woods at night.

Korean genetic scientists have created a glow in the dark beagle, a girl puppy named Tegon, using cloning techniques that may help in the search for a cure for Parkinson’s, Alzheimers and other diseases.

The Seoul National University team says the beagle glows if she is given a doxycycline antibiotic. The drug is added to the dog’s food and she glows under ultraviolet light.

According to Lee Byeong-Chun, the scientist behind the project, “The creation of Tegon opens new horizons since the gene injected to make the dog glow can be substituted with genes that trigger fatal human diseases.”

There are 268 kinds of illnesses that dogs and humans have in common, so testing this out on a dog is a way to determine whether or not it is an efficient way to test for diseases in humans.

The same team created the world’s first cloned dog in 2005, named Snuppy. They used the same somatic cell nuclear transfer technology to create Tegon, the glow in the dark dog.

This development could lead to doctors being able to visually detect more illnesses in humans. How would you feel about seeing a “glow in the dark” version of yourself while undergoing some medical tests?

Via Ibtimes
Image credit: Lee Byeong-Chun – Tegon, the glowing dog.