Green Glowing GM Monkeys Reproduce

Ronald Bailey | May 27, 2009

Japanese researchers report that a monkey genetically modifed to glow green under ultraviolet light has become a daddy. As Reuters reports: 

Japanese researchers have genetically engineered monkeys whose hair roots, skin and blood glow green under a special light, and who have passed on their traits to their offspring, the first time this has been achieved in a primate.

They spliced a jellyfish gene into common marmosets, and said on Wednesday they hope to use their colony of glowing animals to study human Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS.

Monkeys modified to carry human disease genes have not yet reproduced successfully, but this is a good sign that it should be possible. 

Whole Reuters report here. 

Comments

Warty|5.27.09 @ 5:12PM|#

whose hair roots, skin and blood glow green under a special light

The reporter evidently thought that "ultraviolet" was too big a word for his readers.

Mister DNA|5.27.09 @ 5:12PM|#

Is it too soon to welcome our Glowing Monkey Overlords?

|5.27.09 @ 5:21PM|#

The reporter evidently thought that "ultraviolet" was too big a word for his readers.

The GFP excitation peak is about 395nm, so that puts it in the visible range. FWIW, the GFP mice I worked with were visibly green under ambient light.

OUTRAGED|5.27.09 @ 5:37PM|#

RACIST!!!

Syd Henderson|5.27.09 @ 6:20PM|#

Positives:
(1) This is very cool.
(2) It makes it much easier to find your marmoset in the dark.

Negatives:
(1) It's hard for the marmoset to sleep if you forget to turn out the dark light.
(2) Glowing green monkeys are a sign of the coming apocalypso. (Like the end of the world, but you can dance to it.)

db|5.27.09 @ 6:26PM|#

Green Glowing GM Monkeys

Finally! A General Motors product that people want to buy!

|5.27.09 @ 6:26PM|#

Now, if we can just put frikkin' laser beams on the glowing green monkey's heads, we'll have something.

|5.27.09 @ 6:30PM|#

Finally! A General Motors product that people want to buy!

Their new line of green cars will be monkey-powered. Literally.

Hugh Akston|5.27.09 @ 6:38PM|#

Mr. DNA, I think Outraged @5:37 was directed at you.

Mister DNA|5.27.09 @ 6:49PM|#

Why would that statement be directed against me? I have nothing against Mario Andretti or Al Unser.

Glowing Monkey in Yankee Stadi|5.27.09 @ 6:58PM|#

They spliced a jellyfish gene into common marmosets, ...to study ...amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS.

I would like to say (...say ...say) that today, I consider myself (...self ...self) the luckiest glowing monkey on the face of the earth ( ...earth ...earth)

|5.27.09 @ 7:07PM|#

Starting with this post my philosophical and aesthetic objections to the present direction of primate gegineering are laid out.

In a more serious vein, this is pretty damned intersting stuff.

|5.27.09 @ 8:12PM|#

My GFP overexpressing Agrobacterium tumefaciens glowed green under ambient light, too, once they'd grown into decent-sized colonies and biofilms.

Now, RFP would be more fun.

GFP is just so pedestrian.

Tim Cavanaugh|5.27.09 @ 9:04PM|#

I just closed an Aug-Sept print mag piece on transgenic animals, keying off the glowing puppies which were the Big Thing a few weeks ago. Now this news comes along to further erode the viability of print lead times.

Why is transgenic research always sold as giving new insights on fertility and genetic diseases? The real action should be in assuring more of nature's bounty to ourselves and our posterity, through well chosen lines of code.

Sharks, for example, constantly regrow their teeth, while humans must make do with a single set of "adult" choppers that are required to last 70 or more years. Why should future generations go through life with mouthfuls of rotten yellow ruins, when a little tinkering with fibroblast cell nuclei could fix the problem?

|5.27.09 @ 9:10PM|#

They spliced a jellyfish gene into common marmosets, ...to study ...amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS.

Well, don't be coy, which one did they decide to study?

Mike|5.27.09 @ 9:50PM|#

Can we breed a glowing red-nosed reindeer? I've got an idea for a name.

|5.27.09 @ 10:11PM|#

Who gives a shit about the fucking marmo[se]t!

Marilyn_Res|5.27.09 @ 11:11PM|#

Here's a photo of what the green glowing monkeys look like:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/photogalleries/glowing-animal-pictures/photo2.html

hmm|5.27.09 @ 11:59PM|#

When they create blue flying monkeys that reside in an anus I will be impressed.h

thoreau|5.28.09 @ 12:19AM|#

Even worse, the glowing monkey is designated 666:

http://scienceblogs.com/drugmonkey/2009/05/oh_boy_here_comes_the_human_cl.php

The Glowing Green Monkey Demon will destroy us all.

|5.28.09 @ 1:31AM|#

more funny green glowing monkey comments please... lol!!!
p.s. peoplepc sucks...

roy|5.28.09 @ 5:02AM|#

I'm more worried about cybermonkeys working for skynet.... but okay, I'll fear cyborg apes as well