(Image source: Mayo Clinic/BBC)

BY ALLEX CONLEY

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

What’s fluffy, fun and fluorescent? A genetically modified cat. 

These kitties are giving a new insight into HIV and AIDS research. Scientists have inserted a gene that can resist Aids-causing viruses into the cats’ DNA.

Molecular biologist and researcher, Eric Poeschla (Poe Shlah) puts the kitty genetics into perspective.

“The amount of genetic material they implanted within the cats was tiny - if the entire string of DNA that is the cat genome were unraveled and depicted as a highway reaching across the United States from New York to Los Angeles, the inserted material would be equal in length to one of the dashed yellow lines in the middle of the highway somewhere out in Nebraska” (Live Science)

Poeschla explained to the BBC, while early progress is promising, further testing is needed- especially if treatment is to be applied to humans.

“So far, Dr Poeschla's team has only tested cells taken from the animals and found they were resistant to FIV. But eventually they plan to expose the cats to the virus and see if they are protected... ‘If you could show that you confer protection to these animals, it would give us a lot of information about protecting humans,’”

But these are not the first fluoro felines we’ve seen. In 2008 a cat named Mr. Green Genes shocked and mesmerised audiences on The Today Show. He was cloned at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans. Senior vice president for the institute, Betsy Dresser explains to MSNBC the procedure is completely harmless to the cat, and essential to pushing science forward.

BETSY DRESSER: ­­“His genes, now, are producing this florescent green protein, and there’s a gene in everyone of his cells. So, what you’re seeing is skin cells – his ears, his eyes, his nose. If we were to shave him he would glow totally green.”

And in South Korea geneticists produced a series of Turkish Angora cats that glow red. Proving the success of inserting genes during the cloning process. (Video: CBS)

This ghoulish glow isn’t only specific to cats. BBC reports - future modifications could lead to treatments for a range of diseases. But The Daily Mail says critics are concerned.

“[They say that] the technique takes a high toll on animal welfare and that scientists should be reducing the number of animals they experiment on.”

According to Science Magazine, Poeschla and his colleagues next step is to test whether the cats are resistant to FIV and whether they are less likely to develop feline AIDS after infection.