Monday, May. 31, 1999
Better Mousetrap?
No, these lab mice were not bred for the benefit of cats that have trouble seeing in the dark. They do glow, however, thanks to a gene that usually codes for green fluorescence in jellyfish but was knit into the animals' usual complement of mousy DNA by scientists at the University of Hawaii. The experiment was reported in Science and demonstrates an improved method of gene transfer--called Honolulu transgenesis--that uses sperm as a vehicle to move DNA from one species to another.