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The other week I saw an animal story all over the internet, from geeky blogs to big news sites: researchers have developed glow-in-the-dark cats as part of their efforts to combat AIDS. Your first reactions are likely similar to mine: a combination of “wait, what?” and “what are they doing to those poor kitties?” Animal testing is always a tricky issue, but in this case no cats have yet been harmed and the research is not only for a very worthy cause for humans, but for cats as well.
There is a feline version of HIV and that’s with what the scientists, from the Mayo Clinic, are currently studying. MSN Today has the details of their work.
The researchers injected the test cats with genes from monkeys that block the growth of the AIDS virus in oocytes (egg cells). Jellyfish genes were also added to the mix, which creates that glow-in-the-dark effect. But the scientists didn’t do that for fun; it makes the relevant genes easy to see and thus study.
It should be noted that the cats only glow under ultraviolet light, not just when all of the lights are switched off in a room. When the scientists are studying the genes on their microscopes and other equipment at a molecular level, this makes it easier to spot what they’re looking for.
So what’s the purpose of the study? We know it’s to help find a cure for AIDS, but what specifically were the people from the Mayo Clinic looking for when they developed glow-in-the-dark cats?
Aside from people and some chimpanzees, cats are the only other mammal that can naturally develop a virus that leads to AIDS. Cats all across the globe suffer from the feline immunodeficiency virus, though most of them are feral and not your average housecat.
By injecting feline eggs with genes proven as HIV-resistant in monkeys, the researchers were able to birth a bunch of cats carrying that resistance. Nearly all of the kittens born from the modified eggs developed the gene. The researchers can then use what they learn from studying these cats and apply it to developing treatments for both FIV and HIV.
Eventually the scientists plan to expose these cats to FIV and see if the resistance proves true. At the moment all they know is that the cats have the gene that was proven resistant in monkeys; they don’t actually know if it will help protect the cats as well.
It’s hard for me to think about humans intentionally giving cats AIDS. But I know this could lead to treatment against the disease for both humans and cats. If the resistant genes taken from monkeys help protect cats against FIV, then the implications are that protections against the disease might be transferable amongst mammals.
In the meantime, as I’m sure you’re all curious, Google Images has pictures of the relevant glow-in-the-dark kitties here.
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*(This image by Hakan Dahlstrom is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
