Glow Kitties
By: Stephen Ornes
September 28, 2011
Scientists are studying a disease called Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, commonly called FIV. This disease would be the equivalent of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV but for Felines. Since the two viruses are so alike, if a cure for FIV can be found, it might help people with HIV. This virus is so common that it could affect 1 out of 3 cats in the United States. In the process of finding a way to fight FIV, Scientists have created a new breed of cats that can glow in the dark. If the cat glows in the dark, it means that the cure is working. Eric Poeschla, the leader of this research, studies viruses at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn. He wants to 'understand how such a small thing can do so much harm'. Poeschla and his colleagues inserted a a gene found in the Rhesus monkey's DNA into a feline egg cell. The also injected a cell that would glow in the dark if the previous cell was working. This is how the produced a new breed of cats that glow in the dark and may be able to fight off FIV.
The title, Glow Kitties, it attracted my attention towards the article. The picture made me want to read it even more. This does not connect with what we are studying in class but I didn't know that by inserting a gene in a cat, you could make it turn glow in the dark. I find this cool!
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