South Korean scientists have used a cloning technique to create a glowing dog, which can help cure diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Researchers from the Seoul National University (SNU) announced on Wednesday that the genetically modified female beagle glows fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic.
The dog, named Tegon, was born in 2009 and has been undergoing tests for two years, Reuters reported.
Studies showed that the dog's ability to glow can be turned on or off by adding a drug to its food.
"The creation of Tegon opens new horizons since the gene injected to make the dog glow can be substituted with genes that trigger fatal human diseases," Yonhap news agency quoted lead researcher Lee Byeong-chun as saying.
According to Lee, the team used the somatic cell nuclear transfer technology that they had used to make the world's first cloned dog, Snuppy, in 2005.
Since humans and dogs have 268 illnesses in common, creating dogs that artificially show such symptoms can help find treatment methods for human diseases.
The study took four years with roughly USD 3 million spent to make the dog and conduct verification tests.
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