GloFish are a brand of genetically modified florescent fish, that are now available in pet stores and are available in many florescent colours. They are one of the first genetically modified animals to become publicly available. This is modification is typically seen on Zebrafish.
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| Original Zebrafish |
The goal was to develop a fish that could detect pollution by selectively fluorescing in the presence of environmental toxins.
Shortly after , a line of red fluorescent zebrafish was made by added a gene from a sea coral, and orange-yellow fluorescent fish, by adding a variant of the jellyfish gene. Later, there was the creation of a medaka (rice fish) with florescent green colour. Medaka like zebrafish is a model organism used in biology. A model organism 'is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the organism model will provide insight into the workings of other organisms'.
The GloFish were introduced to the United States market in 2003 by Yorktown Technologies. It had to go through extensive environmental research and consultations with various Federal and Sate agencies, as well as leading experts in the field of risk assessment. The definitive environmental risk assessment was made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has jurisdiction over all genetically modified animals, including fluorescent zebra fish, since they consider the inserted gene to be a drug.
Their official statement, made on 9 December 2003, was as follows:
"Because tropical aquarium fish are not used for food purposes, they pose no threat to the food supply. There is no evidence that these genetically engineered zebra danio fish pose any more threat to the environment than their unmodified counterparts which have long been widely sold in the United States. In the absence of a clear risk to the public health, the FDA finds no reason to regulate these particular fish."
"Because tropical aquarium fish are not used for food purposes, they pose no threat to the food supply. There is no evidence that these genetically engineered zebra danio fish pose any more threat to the environment than their unmodified counterparts which have long been widely sold in the United States. In the absence of a clear risk to the public health, the FDA finds no reason to regulate these particular fish."
Sources of colours of florescent protein genes include:
GFP - Aequorea victoria jellyfish
GFP - Sea Pansy
dsRED - Mushroom Coral
eqFP611 - Sea Anemone
RTMS5 - Stony Coral
dronpa - Chalice Coral
KFP - Venus hair anemone
eosFP - Open Brian Boral
dendra - Octocoral
Cats have genetically modified with the gene that is found in jellyfish which produces a florescent protein (called GFP). It was done to mark cells easily by looking under the microscope or shining a light on the animal.
Dr Robin Lovell-Badge, head of developmental genetics at the Medical Research Council's national institute for medical research, said: "Cats are one of the few animal species that are normally susceptible to such viruses, and indeed they are subject to a pandemic, with symptoms as devastating to cats as they are to humans.
The video below explains why we genetically modify animals to glow.
Even though GM fluorescent animals are visually pleasing, and are created to look more interesting (such as the GloFish), they are a very important part of biological development, especially when looking into diseases that effect us.
It will be interesting to see if we use genetic modification to change the images of animals or even ourselves to be more visually interesting or pleasing.
There are also concerns about GM animals which includes concerns about animal welfare issues (particularly for mammals) and complex and unpredictable impacts on ecosystems, including wild species and diseases (particularly for birds, fish and insects released or escaping into the environment). There are also concerns about introducing meat, milk and fish from GM or cloned animals into the human diet and about contamination of the human food chain with GM insects, if they are used in agriculture.
Pigs with Human Organs
With the use of DNA synthesis, genome editing and tools and DNA design, SGI will engineer primary pig cells with edited genomes. The development will require modifying a large number of genes at an unparalleled efficiency and scale. United Therapeutics will use xenotransplantation to implant the engineered pig cells to generate pig embryos that will develop humanised lungs. It is notable that mammals including pigs and humans have around 90 percent the same genes.
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