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Shown here at 7 weeks, cc [" copy cat": above, right] was produced by nuclear transplantation of ovarian cumulus cells fromRainbow , a tri-colour (orange / black / white) calico female [above, left], into enucleated cat ova from an (unnamed) donor. The surrogate mother,Allie , is a bi-colour tortoiseshell (orange and black only) [below, with cc].

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GloFish® are born brilliant! They're not injected, painted, or dyed. They inherit their harmless, lifelong color, and require the same care as any other community fish.

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DNA sequencing has been used to make blind animals see. Some dogs are born blind, to solve this problem, the healthy gene for the eye is implanted into the eye of the dog and after a month or two the dog will be able to see.

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DNA sequencing is a technology that uses genes from one organism and transplants them into the cells of another organism.

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As long as there is a full string of DNA, an animal can be cloned. Long dead animals such as the wooly mammoth or the dinosaurs. We will never see the dinosaurs come back due to the lack of complete DNA strings.

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Cloning is a new technology that can save many endangered species, including things like the clouded leopard that has already been cloned at ACRES.

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For brightness, glowworms got nothing on Mr. Green Genes. And for fright factor, neither do black cats. The 6-month-old feline may look like a standard-issue orange tabby in the comfort of daylight, but he turns a ghoulish shade of fluorescent green under the shroud of darkness!

But there's no need to get spooked; Mr. Green Genes is not a ghastly creation out of a Halloween horror story. The glow-in-the-dark cat is the result of a genetic experiment gone right, not awry; he was cloned at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans to aid endangered species ... and down the line, humans as well.

The phosphorescent feline made his national television debut on TODAY Thursday. The studio went dark and Mr. Green Genes' ears, nose and eyes glowed under an ultraviolet light.

The green gene
Betsy Dresser, senior vice president for the institute, explained to TODAY's Amy Robach the process of producing a kitty that strangely glows, but is otherwise as normal as any of its brethren. "Two of our scientists at the center worked together with the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center," Dresser said. "They introduced a gene that would then produce a protein that glowed fluorescent green."

While it's certainly a neat scientific parlor trick, Dresser told TODAY the research that led to the glowing cloned Mr. Green Genes is vitally serious - both to combat animal diseases via gene therapy and, later, to increase the possibility of inserting good genes into humans while taking bad genes out.

But to verify that the gene implants were working, scientists needed to try them out on a cat, because the animals have much of the same genetic makeup as humans. And to see if the genes actually made it into the finished, cloned cat, a gene was inserted that produces a fluorescent protein.

"We wanted to know for sure that we could insert this gene into a cell and have it multiply," Dresser explained. "If nothing glows, we wouldn't know if the gene was really inserted. So, because it glows, we know we inserted the gene and were successful with that technique."

The nose glows
While Mr. Green Genes pawed playfully and rolled on his back for handler Kelly Trimble, Dresser explained that all the cat's skin cells glow with the green fluorescent protein but, because it's a furry critter, only the eyes, ears and nose display wattage under ultraviolet. "If we were to shave him, he would glow totally," Dresser told Robach.

Dresser was also quick to note there is nothing cruel and unusual involved in producing a cat that glows in the dark. "It's totally harmless," Dresser said. "He's just a normal cat; he doesn't know he's glowing."

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Me-yow! This cat has a glow - for a good cause

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In the light of day, Mr. Green Genes looks like a normal orange tabby - but under ultraviolet, his skin glows. The first fluorescent feline in the U.S. was cloned by scientists to aid endangered species ... and, down the line, humans as well.

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Audubon Nature Institute - Celebrating the Wonders of Nature - New Orleans

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Audubon Nature Institute is a New Orleans nonprofit operating the local zoo, aquarium, parks, and more. We are dedicated to preserving and celebrating nature.

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Genetic engineering is the process of manually adding DNA to an organism. The goal is to gain an animal with new traits or be more resistant against certain strains of diseases.