Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Fluorescent Chinese pig passes on trait to offspring - 01/09/08
A pig genetically modified in China to make it glow has given birth to fluorescent piglets, proving such changes can be inherited, state media said Wednesday.
The sow was one of three pigs who had fluorescent green protein injected into their embryos when they were bred in December 2006 by scientists in northeast China, Xinhua news agency said in a report late Tuesday.
The pigs glow green when placed under an ultraviolet light. After mating the sow with an ordinary pig, two of the resulting 11 piglets inherited the feature, Liu Zhonghua, a professor at Northeast Agricultural University in the city of Harbin, was quoted as saying. "The mouths, trotters and tongues of the two piglets glow green under ultraviolet light, which indicates the technology to breed transgenic pigs via cell nuclear transfer is mature," said Liu.
Scientists in Taiwan had bred fluorescent pigs in January 2006, but Liu said the birth of the fluorescent Chinese piglets proved such changes could be passed on to offspring, which expands scientific and medical possibilities.
"This technology promises to breed excellent transgenic pigs and even raise special pigs to provide organs for human transplant operations in the future," he said.
His teams used somatic cell nuclear transfer technology previously employed in the cloning of animals by US, South Korean, and Japanese scientists, Xinhua said.
www.rawstory.com
The sow was one of three pigs who had fluorescent green protein injected into their embryos when they were bred in December 2006 by scientists in northeast China, Xinhua news agency said in a report late Tuesday.
The pigs glow green when placed under an ultraviolet light. After mating the sow with an ordinary pig, two of the resulting 11 piglets inherited the feature, Liu Zhonghua, a professor at Northeast Agricultural University in the city of Harbin, was quoted as saying. "The mouths, trotters and tongues of the two piglets glow green under ultraviolet light, which indicates the technology to breed transgenic pigs via cell nuclear transfer is mature," said Liu.
Scientists in Taiwan had bred fluorescent pigs in January 2006, but Liu said the birth of the fluorescent Chinese piglets proved such changes could be passed on to offspring, which expands scientific and medical possibilities.
"This technology promises to breed excellent transgenic pigs and even raise special pigs to provide organs for human transplant operations in the future," he said.
His teams used somatic cell nuclear transfer technology previously employed in the cloning of animals by US, South Korean, and Japanese scientists, Xinhua said.
www.rawstory.com
First snow for 100 years falls on Baghdad - 11/01/08
Light snow fell in Baghdad early on Friday in what weather officials said was the first time in about a 100 years.
Rare snowfalls were also recorded in the west and centre of Iraq, plunging temperatures to zero degrees Centigrade (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and even colder, an official said.
The snow in Baghdad, which melted as it hit the ground, began falling before dawn and continued until after 9 am, residents said.
"Snow has fallen in Baghdad for the first time in about a century as a result of two air flows meeting," said a statement by the meteorology department.
"The first one was cold and dry and the second one was warm and humid. They met above Iraq."
Rare snowfalls were also recorded in the west and centre of Iraq, plunging temperatures to zero degrees Centigrade (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and even colder, an official said.
The snow in Baghdad, which melted as it hit the ground, began falling before dawn and continued until after 9 am, residents said.
"Snow has fallen in Baghdad for the first time in about a century as a result of two air flows meeting," said a statement by the meteorology department.
"The first one was cold and dry and the second one was warm and humid. They met above Iraq."
Britain to Implant Prisoners With Spychips
The British government is planning to begin implanting machine readable microchips under the skin of thousands of convicts to help enforce home curfews. The Independent of London reports radio frequency identification or RFID tags would be surgically inserted into the former prisoners. The spychips would contain scannable personal information about individuals, including their identities, address and criminal record. The government is also investigating how it could use satellite and radio-wave technology to monitor the released prisoners.
www.democracynow.org
www.democracynow.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)