A lot of people say nature should be left alone - they think humans can only cause problems
when we meddle in the natural order of things.
Do you agree?
How do you feel then about science doing exactly the opposite?
Most of the time, its part of research to better understand how genes work so that we
can make human lives better and maybe even cure diseases.
Starting off at number 10 we have The Vacanti Mouse.
Theres no easy way to say this - the Vacanti Mouse was a mouse with a human ear on its
back.
Well, not technically.
The earmouse was created by Charles Vacanti and created by Charles Vacanti and his colleagues
at the University of Massachusetts in 1997.
The ear on its back wasnt actually an ear shaped cartilage structure grown by seeding
cow cartilage cells into a biodegradable ear shaped mould that was then implanted under
the mouses skin - but yeah, its an ear, basically.
So what was the point of all this?
Well when the picture started circulating the internet in the late 1990s, many people
used it in protests against genetic engineering.
However, no genetic manipulation was performed.
The whole point was to show the transplantation of fabricated cartilage into humans is possible
- we have the Vacanti mouse to thank for that, even if it does look very weird …
Next up at number 9 we have The See Through Frog.
I love this one - in 2007, Japanese researchers succeeded in producing see-through frogs.
The reason?
So that they didnt have to kill and dissect them in order to study their organs, blood
vessels and eggs.
How amazing is that?
In modern times, dissections have become increasingly controversial.
Many animal rights activists have called for more humane methods of studying frogs without
performing dissections.
Lead researcher Masayuki Sumida said -You can watch organs of the same frog over its
entire life as you don't have to dissect it.
The researcher can also observe how toxins affect bones, livers and other organs at lower
costs- … these frogs were created from rare mutants of the Japanese brown frog.
They bred pale frogs together until the offspring were completely translucent.
At the time, the researchers also said they could inject the frogs with an illuminating
protein that would cause parts of the frog to glow when cancer starts.
Imagine if they did that with humans - interesting but a little creepy …
Moving on to number 8 we have Dolly The Sheep.
Some of you may have heard this one before.
Dolly was a sheep.
She was also the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.
She was born in Scotland after scientists from the University of Edinburgh after years
of research and failed attempts.
She was created using the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer, where the cell nucleus
from an adult cell is transferred into an unfertilized egg cell that has its nucleus
removed.
The cell is then stimulated to develop by an electric shock.
The cell was then implanted into a surrogate mother and was eventually born as a healthy,
normal looking sheep called Dolly.
Its a risky procedure and often results in stillborns or calves that last just a few
days or weeks - however, Dolly was stable.
The scientists waited almost 7 months to announce it to the world but when they did, the news
was everywhere.
Many called it the breakthrough of the year.
The cloning paved the way for other large animal clones such as pigs, deer, horses and
bulls.
In January 2018, scientists successfully cloned macaque monkeys - the first primates ever
cloned.
Is human cloning around the corner?
Next up at number 7 now we have The Glo Fish.
These are fish that glow in the dark - they arent locked away in some lab away from the
public view - you can buy them, they are on the market, they are 100% for sale.
In 1999, Scientists in Singapore took the glowing gene of a jellyfish and inserted it
into the embryo of an Indian Zebrafish.
The result was glowfish - they glow in both natural and ultraviolet light.
This wasnt the ultimate goal for the scientists, they actually wanted to develop a fish that
could detect water pollution by glowing in the presence of environmental toxins.
They were approached by Yorktown Technologies who bought the rights to sell the fish worldwide.
They are sold in bright red, green, orange yellow, blue and purple flurescent colours.
The names include -Electric Green, Moonrise Pink, Cospic Blue and Galactic Purple- … the
FDA approved them for sale in the US once they assessed they were not going to end up
in the food chain - but still, if you see one, maybe don't eat it.
Thats my advice for today.
Next up at number 6 we have Ruppy.
In 2009, scientists at Seoul National University created the worlds first transgenic dog.
Her name was Ruppy and she glowed under ultraviolet light.
Of course, the gene to glow in UV doesnt naturally occur in dogs, they got the gene from sea
anemones.
Ruby was created by cloning fibroblast cells that express a red fluorescent gene produced
by sea anemones.
It was hoped that transgenic dogs like Ruppy would become effective stan-ins for the study
of human disease.
Professor Lee Byong-Chun led the research team and said -Whats significant in this work
is not the dogs expressing red colours but that we planted genes into them- … of course,
he can say that, but the media and the world became obsessed with the idea of a dog that
glowed when you shone UV on it.
Other scientists critised the process, saying Transgenesis is laborious, expensive and slow.
Moving on to number 5 now we have The Suicide Mosquitos.
Thats the name Ive given these mosquitoes because essentially, scientists have engineered
them to possibly bring an end to their own species.
They genetically modified male mosquitos with lethal genes.
Once released, the males mate with the females and release these lethal genes which kills
them or kills the offspring before they can develop into adulthood.
If successful, techniques like this could wipe out huge swathes of mosquito populations
around the world or even bring them to extinction.
The reason isnt just because mosquitoes are annoying, its to stop them from spreading
the likes of dengue fever which has no known cure and has put nearly half of the worlds
population at risk for infection.
Of course, this is good news for humans - 2.3 million infections and 25,000 deaths could
be prevented every year.
However, even as bad as they are, some people are questioning whether humans have the right
to intentionally kill off an entire species, what do you guys think?
Coming in at number 4 now we have the Fast Growing Salmon.
In 2015, the Americas FDA approved AquAdvantage Salmon for human consumption.
These are Atatantic Salmon with an added gene which allows them to grow all year instead
of only during spring and summer.
The intention has been to increase the speed at which the fish grows without affecting
its ultimate size or other qualities.
These fish can now reach their market size in 16 to 18 month instead of the usual 3 years.
Despite the approval by the FDA and other governments around the world, its unlikely
that youll be finding these special salmon everywhere.
Back when they were approved, there was just two land based facilities that were allowed
to grow the fish - one day though, they could become the norm!
Next up at number 3 we have The Enviropig.
In 2010, researchers at the University of Guelph created genetically engineered pigs
dubbed the -Enviropigs- … on the surface, they look just like normal pigs - but its
not about the outside, its about whats going on inside them.
Normal pigs produce a lot of phosphorus in their urine and feces.
The phosphorous then finds its way into lakes, rivers and oceans and causes algal blooms.
The outburst of algae rapidly depletes the waters oxygen levels, creating vast dead zones
that kill fish and other aquatic life.
Not good.
Pigs are often blamed for contributing to this.
The specially engineered Enviropigs produce up to 65 percent less phosphorus in their
urine and feces.
This would make things better for the environment but also for farmers.
Many farmers have to abide by strict laws that allow no farms to release nitrogen or
phosphorus runoffs.
They usually have to store the waste and wait for it to be treated and recycled as fertilizer.
This is all added cost for the farmers, its hoped that the Enviropigs could change that,
and do some good for the environment at the same time.
Moving on to number 2 we have The Sterile Pink Bollworm.
Pink Bollworms are a nightmare for cotton farmers.
Every year, they destroy cotton crops around the world.
It got so bad that the US Department of Agriculture began tests to see if they could stop the
worms in their tracks.
They began growing a lot of Pink Bollworms in labratories - that might sound counter
productive if your aim is to reduce their numbers - but wait.
These male bollworms had been genetically engineered to be sterile, meaning even if
they mated with a female, no offspring would come about.
The worms were then released back into the natural population where they competed with
wild male bollworms for the females.
Scientists hope that if enough of the sterile males mate with the females, the number of
offspring will be greatly reduced, providing some relief for cotton farmers around the
world …
And finally at number 1 we have the See-Through Goldfish.
In 2009, Japanese researchers succeeded in creating goldfish that were so translucent,
you can see their hearts beating inside their bodies.
The aim was to create a fish that could be studied without the need for a dissection
- the same reason for the frogs we talked about earlier.
Yutaka Tamaru, a professor in the study, said -You don't have to cut it open, you can see
a tiny brain above the goldfishs black eyes- … the scientists created the fish using
selective breeding.
They took two natural fish who had slightly paler skin and bred them together, they continued
like this with the offspring until the skin became to pale it was see through.
The fish are expected to live up to 20 years!
They could grow as long as 10 inches and weigh more than 6 pounds, much bigger than fish
used in similar experiments.
They hope that for the people studying these fish, they can see their whole life cycle
take place underneath their see through skin, without ever having to hurt them.
OK!
Thats all Ive got!
What did you think if our little mutants?
Some people argue that we shouldnt be messing with nature, others welcome it and weve talked
about ways in which they help or even save peoples lives.
Its an interesting discussion and I look forward to hear your thoughts in the comments section.
Thanks as always for watching, my name is Danny Burke and Ill see you all in the next
video!