Source: Xinhua

04-27-2009 10:38

SEOUL, April 24 (Xinhua) -- A team of South Korean researchers have successfully cloned world's first transgenic dogs, which can produce a fluorescent protein that glows red under ultraviolet light.

A team of South Korean researchers have successfully cloned world's first transgenic dogs, which can produce a fluorescent protein that glows red under ultraviolet light.(sohu.com)

Using retrovirus gene delivery method, they first transfected canine fetal fibroblasts with the RFP gene-expressing construct. Somatic cell nuclear transfer was then employed to replace the nucleus of an oocyte with the nucleus of the RFP-fibroblasts.

After a week dividing in a Petri dish, researchers implanted the cloned embryo into a surrogate mother.

Finally, "we produced the first generation of transgenic dogs with four female and two male expressing red fluorescent protein (RFP)," the research team led Byeong-Chun Lee of Seoul National University reported in the April issue of journal genesis.

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