From: Gina Miller (echoz@hotmail.com)
Date: Mon May 17 1999 - 15:36:08 MDT
Little green mice that are a glowing tribute to science
Daily Mail
SCIENTISTS have created green mice using a revolutionary new genetic
engineering technique revealed yesterday.
The mice developed their unusual colour after a fluorescent gene taken from
jellyfish was injected into their cells. When illuminated by ultraviolet
light, scientists found that the creatures glowed green.
The green gene, however, was merely a marker. It was being used to
demonstrate that a new technique using sperm cells to transfer genetic
material worked.
It proved that scientists at the University of Hawaii had created a simpler
and more straightforward method, which was reported yesterday in the journal
Science, than the one previously used.
Usually when scientists want to modify an animal they inject DNA into the
nucleus of a fertilised egg cell, which then develops into an embryo
containing the new gene.
The method works well in mice but is more difficult in larger mammals such
as cows and pigs. Their fertilised egg cells are opaque, making the nucleus
harder to find.
The new technique, however, involves a form of in-vitro fertilisation.
In it, sperm heads whose cell coats have been disrupted by freezing or
treating with chemicals are mixed with DNA.
That mixture is then injected into an unfertilised egg cell using an IVF
technique called intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
Some of the DNA penetrates the sperm heads, which fertilise the egg and
consequently incorporate the new genetic material.
'The great thing about this method is that it is very straightforward. It
may prove to be more efficient,' said Professor Tony Perry, one of the
research team.
The technique could have major implications for the use of mouse models to
study human genes and the breeding of genetically engineered pigs whose
organs can be transplanted into humans.
Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
Web Page
http://www.nanoindustries.com
E-mail
echoz@hotmail.com
Alternate E-mail
nanogirl@halcyon.com
"The science of nanotechnology, solutions for the future."
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