Quote:
Originally Posted by AscotButch
I heard a story the other day on NPR in which they were discussing a book titled Frankencat, about some of the different genetic modifications that are being performed on animals. Specifically, the story was about how spider DNA has been introduced into goats so that when the goat's milk is purified, it contains a significant amount of silk that can be harvested and used in any number of applications. Because silk is super light but very strong, it's being looked at for use in things like bullet proof vests, etc.
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This reminds me of when I took Molecular Genetics in college. The scientist who taught discussed how their exists a fish whose blood contains a distinct "anti-freeze" gene. (I'm unclear how it is used originally by the fish.) This anti-freeze gene has since been isolated from the fish, reproduced in a laboratory and ultimately transferred into the genome of a strawberry. The idea was to prevent strawberry crop loss from untimely freezing etc. I'm sure there are people who scoff and otherwise flip out about this but honestly, I think that shit is bitchin' !