Glowing green mice light up Iran's Royan Institute

Iranian scientists have created green-glowing mice to demonstrate their expertise in sophisticated genetic-engineering techniques.

"Our main purpose of such experiments is to display the abilities of (our) genetic researchers, something that our country has successfully accomplished," the Director of Iran's Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research told Mehr news Monday.

"One of the activities that our researchers have conducted at the Rotyan Institute is producing green mice. In this project, a specific gene is inserted into the stem cells of a fetus," Dr. Hamid-Reza Tayyebi said.

"The gene has a characteristic that allows it to change colors to purple when exposed to light," he explained.

Dr. Tayyebi said that after inserting the DNA parts, the fetus is placed inside the womb of another mouse, which would give birth to a fluorescent green rodent.

The leading Iranian researcher added that the ability to create such animals demonstrates how far the country has progressed in genetic sciences.

Producing green mice was a method first adopted by scientists in 1999. The achievement proved the efficiency of a technique that uses sperm to insert new DNA.