In Depth
Science
Transgenics research moves up the evolutionary ladder
November 20, 2006
By Denise Deveau | CBC News
It might not be easy being green, but it's even more difficult to make something green that normally isn't — such as a pig.
Last year, scientists at National Taiwan University's Department of Animal Science and Technology proved that it can be done, though, introducing the world's first fully fluorescent green pigs.
Photo credit: Mongabay.com
It was reported that the experiment was designed to help stem cell research and the study of human disease. While other experiments have created partially fluorescent pigs, these were reportedly the only pigs to be green through and through, including their internal organs.
The technology used was transgenics, in which genetic material from another life form — in this case a protein in jellyfish that makes them fluorescent — is added into a normal pig embryo. The resulting offspring show traces of green in their skin during daylight, but glow a bright green when under a blue light.
Up the evolutionary ladder
Transgenics is a research area that is moving up the evolutionary ladder by leaps and bounds. It has been applied to the most basic life forms, such as bacteria and crops, to fish, reptiles, amphibians and now mammals. In the case of coloured pigs and the like, the foreign genetic material is used to 'encode' a protein, making it easy to trace in a research animal's cells. Dr. Christian Burks at the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) in Toronto said that the notion of introducing genetic material from one organism to another may not be familiar to most people, but to scientists it's not new.
"It's been around since the 1970s, starting with bacteria research," he says. "It's a very common tool in gene studies. The technology has now crept up the tree of life, because the ability of technology to work with cell culture and animal cells has advanced."
Transgenic research with zebra fish, for example, has been used to look for genes that might be responsible for abnormalities in the development of human organs. Fireflies also have an enzyme that can convert chemicals to light in cells. Japanese researchers created a transparent medaka fish that lets them track how embryonic exposure to toxins can lead to disease in later life.
As we get to the human end of the continuum, Burks says, "It's always a push-pull between where we are and when people are ready for the technology."
Bragging rights
In fact, he said, no human is immune from the transgenic phenomenon, which can occur naturally as well as in a lab. "We carry bits of pieces of what we might call 'transgenic events' in our own cells — perhaps part of a viral gene or particle that went into the human cell generations ago."
As far as creating all-green pigs or fish are concerned, though, Burks speculates that some of the breakthroughs could carry an element of bragging rights.
"When we talk whole animals that glow in the dark, like green pigs or fish, sometimes part of the effort is just to show it can be done."
Research aside, transgenics technology is becoming more common, and it could make for a pretty picture — or fish tank.
"The most interesting part along that spectrum is that people could buy a green zebra fish at a pet store and bring it home. Something like cosmetically enhanced fish pushes the domain of transgenics to where the public become comfortable with it."
- RELATED LINK: Ontario Genomics
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