Three, to be precise. Here's a photo of one of them:
Taiwan breeds fluorescent green pig
NTU successfully produces three green fluorescent pigs
Apparently, this has been done before by labs in other countries, but this is the first time that the fluorescence gene has expressed itself throughout the animals' body. It's not really mad scientist stuff, because for genetics studies it's very useful to have a fluorescence gene inserted into the organism. When subsequent genes are added, it becomes easy to tell if the insertion worked because the animals stop glowing. However, the two reports above state that the purpose is for stem cell and regenerative tissue studies.
They don't really explain how it's supposed to help in these studies, but here's how fluorescent mice are used for cancer studies:
A fluorescent mouse under normal light:
And under a black light:
Whoa, that reminds me of The Kryptonite Man! Anyone remember him?
Anyways, here's the same kind of mouse with cancerous cells containing a red fluorescence gene:
The real pay-off is when tissue samples are taken and viewed under fluorescent light. Healthy blood vessels glow green, and cancer cells glow red thanks to the added genes:
They can now have a clear view when studying cancerous tissues, and can better understand what's going on under different chemotherapy regimes.
I suppose that's why it's such a breakthrough that the gene is expressed in EVERY tissue of this new pig. Heart, lungs, intestines - they're all green under UV. It would be difficult to get a good picture of a brain tumor if only the snout glowed.
(Other uses for this technology can be found here.)
Taiwan's new transgenic pigs bring to mind the fluorescent fish that were first produced here for sale in pet stores in 2003. I've considered buying a few, along with the obligatory "black-lit tank, fluorescent plastic coral and 'fluorescent fish pellets' for food." But I don't like the idea of going on holidays and bothering other people to take care of them.
Back in 1990, the possibility of using genetic engineering for entertainment purposes was one of the big themes in Michael Crichton's novel, Jurassic Park. Obviously, the concept seems to work for fish, but there probably isn't a market for green-glowing pet pigs. These guys will be for medical and scientific use only.
UPDATE (Jan 14/06): Wandering to Tamsui has a great photo of the three little pigs exposed to UV light. With tongue planted in cheek, he points out the political significance of their green fluorescence. (For those not in the know, the party colors for Taiwan's independence camp and the coalition of its pro-communist rivals are green and blue, respectively.)
UPDATE (Feb 26/06): I think I have a clearer understanding of why the scientists would want to do this with pigs. Recall the example of the green fluorescent rat. Suppose then, that you had a fluorescent green pig instead of a rat, and you injected it with red fluorescent STEM CELLS rather than cancer cells. Now, you can easily monitor stem cell regeneration of damaged organs, merely by taking tissue samples and exposing them to UV light.
UPDATE (Apr 09/08): More cool pics on this from a Thai website.
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