What if I tell you that a cat that glows in the dark exists? You’d say I’m lying, right?

South Korean scientists have cloned cats by manipulating fluorescent gene. They used a procedure that could help in developing of treatments for human genetic diseases. Side effect? Cats glow in the dark when exposed to UV light.

Three cats with altered fluorescence protein (RFP) were created at Gyeongsang National University.

“It marked the first time in the world that cats with RFP genes have been cloned,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The ability to produce cloned cats with the manipulated genes is significant as it could be used for developing treatments for genetic diseases and for reproducing model (cloned) animals suffering from the same diseases as humans,” it added. The cats were born in January and February. One was stillborn while two others grew to become adult Turkish Angoras, weighing 3.0 kilograms (6.6 pounds) and 3.5 kilograms.

“This technology can be applied to clone animals suffering from the same diseases as humans,” the leading scientist, Kong, told AFP. “It will also help develop stemcell treatments,” he said, noting that cats have some 250 kinds of genetic diseases that affect humans, too.

The technology could help in saving endangered animals like tigers, leopards and wildcats by cloning, Kong said.

After a major setback South Korea’s bio- engineering industry is finally back on track.

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