PETA isn’t going to like this one…. So researchers at the Seoul National University in South Korea have created the first ever transgenic dog through cloning – a beagle named Tegon (pictured above). Meaning that the genetics of the dog are able to be changed by administering an antibiotic through their food causing it to glow in the dark under ultraviolet light. Between the research and testing to see the experiment through over $2.9 Million dollars over the course of two years. It’s not all bad though, through the research scientists might find cures for known diseases.
‘The creation of Tegon opens new horizons since the gene injected to make the dog glow can be substituted with genes that trigger fatal human diseases,’ said lead researcher Byeong-Chun Lee.
Seoul National University hopes other genes could be engineered to artificially indicate if the dog contracts an illness. There are 268 illnesses that humans and dogs have in common and this research could help find cures for human diseases.
