Scientists create glow-in-the-dark bunnies

Scientists create glow-in-the-dark bunnies.

So, yeah.  They’re adorable as hell, to be sure.

I have two things to say:

  1. (Lame and Punny) I, for one, welcome our new glow-in-the-dark, hopping, loves-to-eat-carrots (not yet quite zombied) bunny overlords.
  2. (Serious) At what point does genetic modification yield a new organism altogether?  Are these really bunnies?  They’re injected with jellyfish DNA.  Is it a bunny/jellyfish hybrid?

To quote Jurassic Park’s Ian Malcolm (<3 Jeff Goldblum) “Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

I am a scientist at heart, but we must closely examine the possible repercussions of futzing around with the very essence of an organism.  To not do so is borderline insane and -definitely- dangerous.

Food for thought.

2 comments

  1. Omg, great choice of JP quote there!

    I was wondering the same thing when I first heard about this… Man-Playing-God aside, what *purpose* does this serve? To wit, the scientist could and did, but should they have?

    All they’ve done, as far as I can see, is destroy what little defenses rabbits have to begin with. A glow-in-the-dark bunny is just a tasty bull’s-eye for predators at night (unless the odd discoloration dissuades predators?).

  2. This specific application has little to no purpose, other than to do a proof of concept (albeit a cool one) to get the public to be interested.

    The stated overall goal is to develop medicine in a different fashion (perhaps implant genes that will help with diabetes, ssri issues, etc).

    It’s a cool proof of concept, but I worry about tampering with genetics. It’s a dangerous game.

    Gattaca and KHANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN (a Star Trek reference for those who aren’t in the know) moments are possible and downright scary sometimes.

    Progress is a good thing, if we can make use of it in an intelligent manner. Here’s hoping.

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