Glowing kittens with resistance to disease have been created by scientists searching for a cure for AIDS, the Daily Mail reported Monday.
The domestic cats had their DNA modified with a gene that fights off an HIV-like virus and a second one – from a fluorescent jellyfish – that makes their bodies shine green under ultraviolet light, the report said.
The purpose of the study was to show how a natural protein that prevents macaque monkeys developing AIDS can do the same in cats, the newspaper said. The two genes are linked and the jellyfish gene is used to track the other one for the protein.
Shining a UV light on the cats produced an eerie green glow, confirming that the protein was being made in their tissues and that the technique had worked, it said.
The genetically modified cats' creators say the research will speed up the search for vaccines and treatments against HIV, the AIDS virus that has claimed more than 30 million lives around the world, according to the Mail.