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A glowing bunny sounds like a creature from Jefferson Airplane’s psychedelic-laced song, “White Rabbit,” but real fluorescent rabbits were recently born at the University of Istanbul, Turkey. ) M( N M% g5 a( s6 g$ v' n$ r5 tRabbits join a growing list of fluorescent fur-bearers. Genetic engineers have created glowing dogs, cats, pigs and mice by inserting a gene from a jellyfish into the mammals’ DNA. The jellyfish gene codes for a protein that emits light when exposed to ultraviolet light. / |2 I# J4 f/ A+ RThe jellyfish gene adds an obvious physical change to an engineered animal. This allows scientists to know that genetic material successfully transferred into a new organism. ^: j4 y& J) ~# {8 A# p公仔箱論壇For example, when Mayo Clinic researchers genetically engineered cats to carry a protein that defends the animals from infection by the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV, the cat version of HIV), the scientists added the fluorescent gene along with the FIV-resistance gene. That way they knew that any cat that fluoresced also carried protein protection against FIV, a trait that would otherwise be invisible. % R0 d4 \6 q$ g* {2 I5 ^8 zwww2.tvboxnow.com( By Tim Wall Published August 15, 2013 Discovery News )& X" }8 A: b& p8 A