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FrankenFish

Mr. Anderson

Mr. Anderson

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Nov 1, 2001
22,568
7
VA
Genetically engineered to glow green - these fish will soon be coming to the US.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/07/08/offbeat.fluorescent.fish.ap/index.html

Kuo says the company anticipated fears that the genetically modified animals might spread uncontrollably and harm the environment, so it made sure that they were unable to produce offspring.

Wasn't there a movie where they thought that they had sterilized all the genetically engineered dinosaurs so they wouldn't be able to reproduce off the island - but it went horribly wrong (enough for 3 movies ;) )

Not sure the novelty of glowing fish makes these worth it.

D
 
i know that genetic engineering may someday be a hugely beneficial thing to mankind...

and i know that virually any science finds its way into consumer entertainment/recreation in it's first stages to further funds for research and development of the technology...

but that **** should be illegal.

pnw
 
Big deal. Wake me up when they start reanimating dead tissue, combining dead parts of different species of fish to make a larger, stronger, more violent uberfish.
 
From the same article:

"We spent NT$100 million ($2.9 million) developing this fish," Kuo said, defending the relatively high cost for consumers. ($17.40 each) He also said admiring fluorescent fish in the dark is an acquired taste.

"It must be really dark to see it," said Maria Hung, who sells the glowing fish at her Goldfish Family store in Taipei. "Since I started selling the fluorescent fish last month, I haven't found a single buyer."

I vote "Doomed Novelty."

I can't imagine how people in the States will take this. Hopefully with complete and utter disdain and disgust. Then again, Ambush Television ratings are getting higher and higher....but I think we draw a line when it comes to screwing around with OTHER living creatures.
 
Originally posted by voicegy
I can't imagine how people in the States will take this. Hopefully with complete and utter disdain and disgust. Then again, Ambush Television ratings are getting higher and higher....but I think we draw a line when it comes to screwing around with OTHER living creatures.
Click to expand...

Amen. I can't stand this genetic modification of everything around us-- Crops, animals... Speaking of Jurassic Park, if you're familiar with the chaos theory, think about how much potential damage the slightest genetic modification will do to the rest of the world... in time...

ok, now i sound crazy... i just wish we'd leave genetic engineering to within our species...

pnw
 
Originally posted by paulwhannel
ok, now i sound crazy... i just wish we'd leave genetic engineering to within our species...
Click to expand...

Well, there are some areas where it could help - bringing back extinct animals that we killed off - the Australian Tiger is currently in the works. Although that's more along the lines of cloning, if they want to create a viable species they need to do some genetic work.

D
 
Domestication has yeilded some pretty disgusting results...it just takes longer to get there.

Ever eat turkey? Female domestic turkeys can produce hatchable eggs without being fertilized by a male turkey. (Parthenogenisis...INSECTS reproduce this way.)Have you taken a close look at some dog and cat breeds? Can you say "congenital defects"? Pigeons bred to "roll" during flight? The list is "endless".

Before ya raise the roof over the fast track of genetic experimentation in laboratories, maybe we should burn some barns to the ground.

dot
 
Originally posted by cyberddot
Female domestic turkeys can produce hatchable eggs without being fertilized by a male turkey. (Parthenogenisis...INSECTS reproduce this way.)
Click to expand...

for real? do you know where i can find out more about that? i need to check it out. creepy.
 
Try...um..."turkeys, parthenogenesis" in a search engine. Here's the first thing that popped up in Google:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a991008a.html


As already pointed out, we'be been doing plenty of "creepy" things with other species, intentional or not, and have been engineering genetics since LONG before the headlines.

dot

(Edit)
Here's another good one from my home state:
http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/animal-sciences/poultry/

If you look close at the first link you'll find the suggestion that those wacky farmers might even be pursuing self-made beef!
 
In my bio class last year my professor showed us pictures of rats that were genetically engineered so that their skin glowed neon green (really!). It was definitely strange, and I wish I still had the picture. Since it was just the skin, the fur didn't glow, and it made for one freaky picture when it was dark enough so that all you could see were the paws/head (which are fur-less). I always wondered if that rat opened its mouth, if its tongue glowed also... :confused: The article says they're covering new territory, but that's not true... I suppose, if they are talking about "mass-producing" (ohh, I feel so evil saying "mass-producing" regarding life) these, then they ARE covering new territory ...
 
For those of you who are interested

This is a simple example of the use of green fluorescent protein (GFP). GFP is a protein that naturally occurs in a species of bioluminescent jellyfish. The gene that encodes GFP has been cloned and expressed in in lots of things, ranging from fruit flies to mice. It's an old technique that's been used (and continues to be used) in research labs around the world for over a decade.

There are now several engineered flavors of GFP that fluoresce in different colors.

What I can't figure out is how getting ubiquitous expression of GFP (the easiest pattern of expression) could've cost so much. Plenty of graduate students have done much more difficult things (generating transgenic fish that express GFP exclusively in certain cells, for example) as a tiny part of their thesis research. I can't see generating a ubiquitous-expressing transgenic fish costing more than a few grand.

And I agree with whoever judged this as a doomed novelty. There are a few geeks like me who might find it amusing to have fluorescent green fish in their tanks, but most of us know how to make 'em ourselves (which is much cooler than buying them).

Cheers
 
Glowing mice curing diseases...

glow_mice.jpg


But brings the question, if you find a cure to AIDS, Cancer and everything else, do you cure people.

Doing so may cause such changes in the world, increased population, but how many people don't want to die.

It's a hard topic, what?
Have I gone off topic?
 
Originally posted by cyberddot
Try...um..."turkeys, parthenogenesis" in a search engine.
Click to expand...

d'oh. i guess all that bio-engineered food has diminished my ability to grasp the obvious.

but don't those articles indicate parthenogenesis is a naturally occuring phenomenon in certain species, with the turkey just being the most advanced? so it ain't colonel sanders with a big hypodermic needle full of weird science or anything.

if they could only get the beer in my fridge to reproduce without me having to run down to the corner store... sweet!
 
Originally posted by Wardofsky
Glowing mice curing diseases...

glow_mice.jpg


But brings the question, if you find a cure to AIDS, Cancer and everything else, do you cure people.

Doing so may cause such changes in the world, increased population, but how many people don't want to die.

It's a hard topic, what?
Have I gone off topic?
Click to expand...

Cute little thing until they would begin invading my house!
 
Re: FrankenFish

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson

Wasn't there a movie where they thought that they had sterilized all the genetically engineered dinosaurs so they wouldn't be able to reproduce off the island - but it went horribly wrong (enough for 3 movies ;) )
Click to expand...
Soon to be 4 actually but that's beside the point.

I personally distrust the idea of genitically engineered crops and animals. In a few places in Mexico corn crops were engineered to be hardy and resistant to pesticides. They proved to be so resiliant that you could not kill them and they ended up with a nasty tendancy to spread everywhere including sprouting in sidewalk cracks.

I'm all for the advancement of science but these things should not be allowed outside sealed labs until we master the science.
 
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