No, your eyes are not deceiving you, that is a picture of a glowing cat. Earlier this month the journal “Natural Methods” reported that U.S. scientists had developed a strain of green-glowing cats with cells that resist infection from the feline immunodeficiency virus, or FIV, which causes AIDS in cats.
The Mayo Clinic’s team of physicians, virologists, veterinarians and gene therapy researchers, along with collaborators in Japan, hope the finding may help prevent the disease in cats and advance AIDS research in people. The study involved inserting antiviral monkey genes that block the virus that causes feline AIDS into feline eggs before they are fertilized.
The infection fighting proteins from the monkey are able to fight HIV and FIV, which was proven effective when the cats started to glow. What makes these specially engineered cats glow is the jellyfish protein GFP genes scientists also injected that make the modified cells glow an eerie green color – making the altered genes easy to spot.
The method worked so well nearly all offspring from the modified eggs have the restriction factor genes. These defense proteins are made throughout the cat's body. The researchers mated two of the three original green-glowing cats, which produced eight kittens that make glowing cells as well.
The team plans to study these felines as a new way to develop treatments for HIV and the feline version of the disease.
Just as the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, does in people, FIV works by wiping out infection-fighting T-cells. FIV infects mostly feral cats. It is transmitted by biting, largely by males defending their territory, but companion cats are affected as well.
Signs of FIV infection include loss of appetite, severe gingivitis and sores in the mouth, as well as diarrhea, vomiting, anemia, eye disorders, nervous system disorders, chronic fever, and chronic infections of the skin, ears and respiratory system. Because FIV cannot be cured, prevention is crucial. Cats should be spayed or neutered to reduce the likelihood of fighting. When adding a new cat to the household, ask your veterinarian to test for FIV. Also, if your cat is an outside cat, get him tested every year. Ask your veterinarian for more information about protecting your feline from FIV.
-- Dr. Bill Craig --