Hypoallergenic cat tops Wired News list of new organisms of 2007
December 31st, 2007 - 5:47 pm ICT by admin
Washington, Dec 31 (ANI): A hypoallergenic cat called Ashera GD has topped science journal Wired News New Organism of 2007 list.
The cat created by Lifestyle Pets has been genetically engineered to be hypoallergenic, and costs around 27,000 dollars.
Second in the list is an E. coli that produces butanol fuel, created by a team of students from the University of Alberta, while competing in the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition.
Russian artist Dmitry Bulatovs genetically engineered fluorescent tadpoles, which glow red and green, came in third.
The insulin-producing lettuce, created by a University of Central Florida researcher, ranked four in the list. This discovery has implications in maintaining blood-sugar levels in people with diabetes through time-releasing capsules of transformed lettuce.
Wrapping up the top five were genetically modified poplar trees that may help increase the amount of carbon that the trees can store. These super CO2 absorbing trees are developed by scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
Pennsylvania State University researchers rapid vaccine-making button mushrooms, which may help rapidly produce 3 million doses of vaccine in 12 weeks, was at sixth position.
Next in the list of the top new organisms of 2007 were South Korean scientists genetically engineered cats that glow when exposed to UV light.
The Cancer-fighting Clostridium bacteria have landed the eighth position in the list. When injected into the body, these bacteria grow and multiply only in the oxygen-poor parts of cancer tumours and may aid the treatment of cancers.
The penultimate position in the top 10 list was given to the schizophrenic mice genetically engineered by Johns Hopkins researchers. Anatomical examinations of such mice have revealed similarities between the mice’s brains and those of human patients.
Rounding up the top 10 was a genetically engineered strain of yeast that Temple University doctors created using rat olfactory genes to sense the chemical and switch on fluorescent-protein producing genes. This yeast would glow green in the presence of DNT, an ingredient in dynamite.
Wired News list of Top 10 New Organisms of 2007 is:
1. Ashera GD hypoallergenic cat
2. Butanol-producing E. coli
3. Artful fluorescent tadpoles
4. Insulin-producing lettuce
5. Super CO2-absorbing trees
6. Rapid vaccine-making button mushrooms
7. Glow-in-the-dark cats
8. Cancer-fighting Clostridium bacteria
9. Schizophrenic mice
10. Yeast with poison-sensing rat genes (ANI)
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- Modified yeast could lead to more efficient, economical biofuel production - Aug 20, 2010
- Genetically engineered monkey could lead to Alzheimer's cure - Oct 31, 2010
- Now, cats that glow in the dark - Sep 12, 2011
- Edible vaccine for malaria on way - Dec 31, 2010
- Iranian scientist creates gas-filled aspirin to fight cancer - Mar 13, 2012
- Scientists engineer bacteria to glow in sync - Jan 21, 2010
- Now, a dog that glows in the dark - Jul 30, 2011
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Tags: blood sugar levels, button mushrooms, cancer tumours, clostridium bacteria, e coli, eighth position, hopkins researchers, human patients, korean scientists, lifestyle pets, oak ridge national laboratory, pennsylvania state university, poplar trees, ridge national laboratory, russian artist, science journal, sixth position, tadpoles, university of alberta, university of central florida