Recently, Chinese geneticists proudly announced that they had developed a breed of pigs whose fat is similar to fish. It contains omega-3 acids that help prevent cardiovascular disease
As we were told at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, attempts to create something useful for humanity out of ordinary animals have been made for a long time. A vivid example of this is mules (offspring of donkeys and horses) and mules (a cross between a horse and a donkey). Or the descendants of tigers and lions - ligers. In living nature, such an animal could not be born in principle! But today, interference in the affairs of nature has taken on a downright rampant character.
As they say in the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, in our country, work has been going on for a long time to create transgenic pigs that grow much faster than traditional ones, while their meat contains much less fat, which means it is healthier.
Mosquitoes with green dignity
Researchers from the Northeastern Agricultural University in Harbin (China), having introduced jellyfish genetic material into the womb of a sow, made the piglets … glow in the dark. Moreover, the piglets glow both outside and inside. Even their hearts and internal organs are colored green. In the daytime, the eyes, teeth and legs of the miracle pigs are green, and the skin has a greenish tint, like a crocodile. If you shine a blue light on them, the pigs begin to shine like a torch.
Why such a perversion? Transgenic pigs will be used to study human diseases. Since the genetic material borrowed from these animals is green, it is not difficult to distinguish it from human. Prior to this, fluorescent green protein (GFP) had already been used to breed green mice, fish, rabbits, and malaria mosquitoes. The latter were green … the genitals. At the same time, they became sterile and, released into the wild, drove out their full-fledged brethren and hindered the growth of the population.
In general, work on genetic intervention in the body of animals can be conditionally divided into three parts. The first direction is the breeding of animals that are genetically resistant to diseases. So far, all over the world, the price of 1 kilogram of meat includes considerable costs for vaccination. Otherwise - foot and mouth disease, avian flu or mad cow disease, which not only mow down thousands of animals and birds, but sometimes also become the causes of human epidemics. For example, in August of this year, several thousand pigs were killed in North Ossetia because of the African plague that came there from Georgia. Russian scientists have already obtained animals with a gene that prevents the development of leukemia in cattle. Work is underway on other deadly diseases.
The second direction is animals that “make” medicines. For example, in Russia, pigs have already been bred that secrete growth hormone with milk. This is the best treatment for children who, due to disorders in the endocrine system, risk remaining dwarfs. In the nearest plans of specialists - "genetically modified" animals, saving from hematological and oncological diseases.
And instead of a fiery motor - a pig's heart
And the third, perhaps the main direction of the scientists' activity is an attempt to breed animals that will be able to give us, humans, their organs for transplantation. And here the "main character" is again the pig. She is one of our closest relatives. Scientists from the United States claim that they have already cloned pigs, each of which contains at least two human genes. These piglets are a kind of intermediate stage between animals and humans. So the reality of the emergence of such a living grunting constructor is already quite great. Of course, it’s rather disgusting to think that a piggy flame motor will beat inside you. But these thoughts can circulate in your head exactly until the moment when your life is in danger.
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Then you realize: than waiting for years for a donor, it is better to endure the animal organs in yourself, which are still unlikely to bring a pig essence into the character of the rescued person.
RATING. Animals closest to man
1. Pig
Almost complete identity. A similar composition of blood, the same digestion and skin. The pig can even sunbathe.
2. Bonobos monkeys
We are different branches descended from the same ancestor.
3. Aardvark, or earthen pig
It is closest to the common ancestor of mammals, and therefore least of all differs from humans in terms of chromosomes.
4. Chicken
The closest relative in terms of protein structure.
5. Crocodile
Our next "protein" brother.
Author: Yulia Tutina