The Mayo clinic released news of a study where they injected unfertilised cat eggs with DNA from a rheus macaque monkey and glow-in-the-dark jellyfish genes. The two pieces of genetic material were joined together so that the fluorescent jellyfish protein could be used to track their take-up by the cat. The result is that these "glow in the dark" kittens are resistant to feline AIDS, which is considered an important step towards disrupting the mechanism by which HIV destroys the human immune system.
The Mayo Clinic says that even though there are no immediate applications for HIV sufferers, it holds potential for understanding of the disease:
The article preview can be seen at http://gay.gl/eD but the full article does cost to download.The macaque restriction factor, TRIMCyp, blocks FIV by attacking and disabling the virus's outer shield as it tries to invade a cell. The researchers know that works well in a culture dish and want to determine how it will work in vivo. This specific transgenesis (genome modification) approach will not be used directly for treating people with HIV or cats with FIV, but it will help medical and veterinary researchers understand how restriction factors can be used to advance gene therapy for AIDS caused by either virus.
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