South Korean scientists have created a beagle that glows green in certain types of light, adding yet another animal to the growing list of genetically modified dogs and cats produced in recent years.
Tegon, the glowing, two-year-old beagle, glows with a bright, fluorescent green hue under ultraviolet light when a particular drug is added to her food, according to a new report published in the scientific journal Genesis.
Discovery News reports that the glowing dog was created using a complicated process of genetic manipulation, with the end goal of the project being a system in which researchers can study the course of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The paper’s co-author, ByeongChun Lee, indicated that dogs’ susceptibility to a high number of the same genetic diseases afflicting humans makes any ability to chart the course of those diseases extremely valuable to research.
According to Lee, genes that trigger some of the 268 degenerative diseases that affect both humans and dogs could easily be added to the drug used to “turn on” the glowing effect.
Lee also noted that Tegon was not harmed in any way by the process.
It’s worth noting that Tegon is far from the first glowing animal created by scientists for similar purposes. Most recently, scientists developed a red fluorescent puppy named Ruppy, as well as glowing cat named Mr. Green Genes.
Of course, anyone who’s ever tripped over a sleeping dog or cat during the middle of night will appreciate the less-scientific applications of this research.
You can watch a Reuters report on Tegon below:
