Recent Biotechnology Innovation Is a Bit Fishy: A Fluorescent Pet

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | Thursday, May 8, 2003 | JASON DEAN

[WaveThatFlag]

In the basement of a building down an alley here floats the future of bioengineered pets, and it is glowing.

In a corner, small fish flit about in a dozen aquariums. Bill Kuo, a manager at Taikong Corp., draws a thick curtain and switches on black lights over the tanks. Suddenly, the fish glow a bright green. "Imagine you come home from work, turn out the lights and look at these," Mr. Kuo says. "It's very relaxing."

[Reeses]

[WaveThatFlag]

I want one.

[B-Chan]

Pretty.

[MD_Willington_1976]

How about this..use it as Taliban bait in those dark caves

[Reeses]

I saw these deep sea jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They emit rainbows of light. I want one but suspect the aquarium would need to be kept at 1,000 psi.

[Qwerty]

Cool.

[Wacka]

Sorry to disappoint you, but the "rainbows of light"you saw are from the diffraction of the light shining on them by the cilia or small "hairs" they use to propel themselves. It is beautiful though. The major fluorescent protein in jellyfish is GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein). Some fluoresce with a blue color. The red fluorescent protein mentioned in the article is produced by a coral.

[Risa]

>> A Canadian company, Nexia Biotechnologies Inc., is injecting spider genes into goats to produce milk that can be refined and woven into "BioSteel," for use in surgical sutures and "ballistic protection," the company says. Another Canadian group has trademarked the name "EnviroPig" for its genetically modified swine, whose manure contains fewer phosphates, a natural pollutant. <<

Fluorescent fish may be cool, but messing around with the genes of these mammals seems pretty inhumane to me.

risa

risa

[realpatriot71]

I want a glowing fish!!!

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

I would not eat a fish that glowed!

[realpatriot71]

I would not eat a fish that glowed!

I'd give it a try, but I try just about any animal put in front of me - at least once - many times the first try is the last :-)

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

How about Chernobyl chicken?

[Centurion2000]

How long until some whacked out biotech club goer figures out how to safely inject his skin with these proteins to glow under the club's black lights ??

I'd day not too long at all.

[realpatriot71]

How about Chernobyl chicken?

Not all that glows is radioactive :-)

With that said, I may just have to pass on Chernobyl chicken

[pyx]

They sterilize the fish, so they won't contaminate wild populations if they are somehow set free. Prof. Tsai says he has been able to sterilize about 90% of the fish, which he says is safe enough.

Imagine the damage to NATIVE fish populations if one of those 10 percent bred with native fish stocks that was a source of food for other fish that would reject the normal food. I know as a fly fisherman, I'd be pretty pissed off.

[StarfireIV]

Chicken to Chernobyl, the Chernobyl Chicken. You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin'

[WaveThatFlag]

How long until some whacked out biotech club goer figures out how to safely inject his skin with these proteins to glow under the club's black lights ??

Since this is a genetic change, rather than a cosmetic one, I'd say that it would be impossible to "inject oneself." The fish were born that way.

[presidio9]

How long until some whacked out biotech club goer figures out how to safely inject his skin with these proteins to glow under the club's black lights ??

Obligatory Stan Jones picture request...

[presidio9]

Imagine the damage to NATIVE fish populations if one of those 10 percent bred with native fish stocks that was a source of food for other fish that would reject the normal food. I know as a fly fisherman, I'd be pretty pissed off.

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make (or why you felt it warranted bold-face for that matter), but your fears are unfounded. Since florescent fish are easy prey they are at a severe disadvante vs. their less conspicuous natural cousins. Therefore, they could never outcompete and infect a species. I suspect the author included the observation because the "playing God" angle always makes for a more dramatic story. But if ever there was an artificial animal we did not need to worry about, this is it.