韓國科學家克隆出紅色熒光狗

South Korean scientists say they have engineered four beagles that glow red using cloning techniques that could help develop cures for human diseases.

The four dogs, all named "Ruppy" — a combination of the words "ruby" and "puppy" — look like typical beagles by daylight.

But they glow red under ultraviolet light, and the dogs' nails and abdomens, which have thin skins, look red even to the naked eye.

Seoul National University professor Lee Byeong-chun, head of the research team, called them the world's first transgenic dogs carrying fluorescent genes, an achievement that goes beyond just the glowing novelty.

"What's significant in this work is not the dogs expressing red colors but that we planted genes into them," Lee told the reporters on Tuesday.

His team identified the dogs as clones of a cell donor through DNA tests and earlier this month introduced the achievement in a paper on the Web site of the journal "Genesis."

Scientists in the US, Japan and in Europe previously have cloned fluorescent mice and pigs, but this would be the first time dogs with modified genes have been cloned successfully, Lee said.

He said his team took skin cells from a beagle, inserted fluorescent genes into them and put them into eggs before implanted them into the womb of a surrogate mother, a local mixed breed.

Six female beagles were born in December 2007 through a cloning with a gene that produces a red fluorescent protein that make them glow, he said. Two died, but the four others survived.

The glowing dogs show that it is possible to successfully insert genes with a specific trait, which could lead to implanting other, non-fluorescent genes that could help treat specific diseases, Lee said.

The scientist said his team has started to implant human disease-related genes in the course of dog cloning, saying that will help them find new treatments for genetic diseases such as Parkinson's.

A South Korean scientist who created glowing cats in 2007 based on a similar cloning technique said that Lee's puppies are genuine clones, saying he had seen them and had read about them in the journal.

"We can appraise this is a step forward" toward finding cures for human diseases, said veterinary professor Kong Il-keun at South Korea's Gyeongsang National University. "What is important now is on what specific diseases (Lee's team) will focus on."

韓國科學家日前稱，他們利用克隆技術培育出了四隻可以發出紅色熒光的比格獵犬，這一研究成果能夠幫助人們研發治療人類疾病的方法。

這四隻狗都取名爲“Ruppy”（“ruby”和“puppy”的合成詞），在正常光條件下，它們看起來和普通的比格獵犬沒什麼差別。

但在紫外線的照射下，它們會發出紅光，尤其是爪子和皮膚很薄的腹部，用肉眼都能看出發紅。

研究小組負責人、首爾國立大學教授李炳春稱它們爲世界首例攜帶有熒光基因的轉基因狗，這一研究成果的意義不僅僅是發光那麼簡單。

李炳春於本週二接受記者採訪時說：“這項研究成果的意義不是狗能夠發紅，而是我們將相關基因植入了它們體內。”

他的研究小組通過DNA檢測用捐獻狗細胞克隆出了這幾隻小狗。該研究報告已在本月初的《成因》雜誌網站上發表。

李炳春稱，美國、日本和歐洲的科學家此前已克隆出熒光鼠和熒光豬，但成功克隆出轉基因狗在世界尚屬首例。

據他介紹，他的研究小組先從一隻比格獵犬身上提取皮膚細胞，再向細胞中植入熒光基因，之後將其注入卵細胞，再將受精卵植入代孕母狗的子宮內。這隻母狗是當地的一個雜交品種。

李炳春稱，2007年12月，六隻克隆雌性比格獵犬出生，它們體內攜帶的一種可產生紅色熒光蛋白的基因可使它們的身體發光，之後有兩隻狗死亡，但其餘四隻都活了下來。

他表示，熒光狗的研究成果表明，移植某種帶有特殊品性的基因是可行的，這樣說來，今後移植可幫助治療特定疾病的其它基因就將成爲可能。

李炳春稱，在克隆狗期間，研究小組已開始移植與人類疾病有關的基因，並稱這將幫助他們找到治療帕金森症等基因疾病的方法。

韓國一位科學家曾在2007年利用類似的基因技術克隆出了熒光貓。他說，李炳春克隆出的這些狗是真正的克隆狗，並稱自己已經見過它們，並在雜誌上閱讀了研究論文。

韓國國立慶尚大學的獸醫教授金可仁說：“我們可以說，這一研究成果向探索人類疾病的治療方法邁進了一步。現在重要的是（李炳春的研究小組）將重點研究哪種疾病。”