World's 1st transgenic dogs born in S. Korea

South Korean scientists claim that they have created the world's first cloned, glowing dogs at Seoul National University. The Korean experts said Tuesday that they engineered four beagles that glow red using cloning techniques that could possibly help develop cures for human disease. "What's significant in this work is not the dogs expressing red colors but that we planted genes into them," said professor Lee Byeong-chun, head of the research team. According to Lee, scientists in the US, Japan and in Europe had previously cloned fluorescent mice and pigs, but this would be the first time dogs with modified genes have been cloned successfully. He added that six female beagles were born in December 2007 with a gene that produces a red fluorescent protein that makes them glow. Two died, but the four others survived. The four dogs, all named "Ruppy" - a combination of the words "ruby" and "puppy" - look like typical beagles by daylight. The professor stated that the glowing dogs show that it is possible to successfully insert genes with a specific trait through cloning, which could lead to implanting other, non-fluorescent genes that could help treat specific diseases. Meanwhile, veterinary professor Kong Il-keun at South Korea's Gyeongsang National University said that Lee's puppies are genuine clones. "We can appraise this is a step forward" toward finding cures for human diseases, Kong Il-keun said. "What is important now is on what specific diseases [Lee's team] will focus on."

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Frogs flown to London to flee deadly fungus

Scientists are airlifting dozens of some of the world's rarest frogs from Montserrat Island in a last ditch attempt to save the species from extinction. Twelve critically endangered mountain chicken frogs have been given sanctuary by the Zoological Society of London at the London Zoo, the world's oldest scientific zoo. They were moved from the dense forest of a British Caribbean territory, their last remaining stronghold. The critically endangered creature got its name because locals say its meat tastes like chicken. It had been hunted and eaten as a delicacy, and after a*n explosion of the temperamental Soufriere Hills volcano is now watched over closely. Emerge of chytridiomycosis, a deadly fungal disease, is more serious than the volcano. It has already lead to the extinction of some of the world's amphibians. "Its impact has been catastrophic. The mountain chicken frog has been virtually wiped out," said Andrew Cunningham, senior scientist with the Zoological Society of London. In total, 50 frogs have been moved from the island as part of a speedy rescue mission by the Zoological Society of London and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

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Invisibility cloak sci-fi dream no more

Scientists have taken a step further in making an invisibility cloak by developing a material that renders objects invisible to near-infrared light. Two teams of scientists from Cornell University and UC Berkeley have reportedly developed invisibility cloaks using a new technology that can hide objects across optical wavelengths. Previous such "cloaks" had metals in their structure which resulted in imperfect cloaking due to loss of light. However, the new technology is the first cloak built considered to be carpet-based, as it uses a dielectric - or insulating material - which absorbs far less light than previous invisibility cloaks designed using metals. "Essentially, we are transforming a straight line of light into a curved line around the cloak, so you don't perceive any change in its pathway," explained Xiang Zhang, professor of mechanical engineering at Berkeley, who led one of the teams. "Metals introduce a lot of loss, or reduce the light intensity," said Professor Zhang said. This loss can leave a darkened spot in the place of the cloaked object. The cloak changes the local density of the object it is covering, Zhang further explained. He told BBC News that when light passes from air into water it would be bent, because the optical density, or refraction index, of the glass is different to air. "So by manipulating the optical density of an object, you can transform the light path from a straight line to any path you want," he added. The new material produces such an effect through a series of minuscule holes strategically "drilled" into a sheet of silicon.

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