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The mouse that roared: changes colors

02/07/2001
A mouse "similar" to a chameleon has been developed in the USA: it changes colors and will be used for research into hereditary diseases and cancer

The mouse that changes colors: sometimes white, sometimes brown. Photo: Coldspring Harbor Laboratories, USA

Scientists in the USA have created the world's first mouse that resembles a chameleon: it changes colors. The transgenic mouse came into the world through a procedure of genetic engineering. This strain will be important for research related to the fight against cancer and genetic diseases.

In a report to a scientific journal dealing with genetic research, Dr. Heidi Scarbel from Virginia State University announced that she had developed a unique strain of transgenic mice. At the beginning of their lives, their fur is white (because it is an albino mouse, albino). In a genetic procedure - the color of the fur changed to dark brown. When they stopped supplying the mouse with a sugar additive - the fur returned to its original white color.

A mouse and a human have quite a few identical genes - and for that reason the mouse is suitable to be used as a model for medical research and the development of drugs and means of healing for human diseases.

The mouse with the gray-white fur also lacks pigment in its eyes - due to a genetic change made in the process of "creating" it. His eyes were actually pink. When they added two genes to it - one of which is the gene that produces the melanin pigment in mammals and the other that was produced from a bacterium and acted as a regulator and activator of the first gene, with the addition of a sugar-like substance given to its drinking water - a procedure began to change the color of the mouse's fur and eyes, which took on a dark brown hue.

When they stopped giving the sugar additive - the fur returned to its original white color. However, the dark color of the eyes remained.

by Alex Doron

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