Scientists Create Glowing Dog in South Korea

Scientists in South Korea announced on Wednesday that they have created a "glowing dog" using cloning techniques that may help to find a cure for human diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle named Tegon glows under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic, according to the report.

A test was completed two years ago by the same researchers. Lee Byeong-chun, the man behind the quartet of self-illuminating beagles in 2009, has taken science to the next level by finding that the ability to glow can be turned on or off by adding a drug to the dog's food.

"The creation of Tegon opens new horizons since the gene injected to make the dog glow can be substituted with genes that trigger fatal human diseases," lead researcher Lee Byeong-chun said.

Reuters elaborates that, "because there are 268 illnesses that humans and dogs have in common, creating dogs that artificially show such symptoms could aid treatment methods for diseases that afflict humans."

The dog was created using the somatic cell nuclear transfer technology that the university team used to make the world's first cloned dog, Snuppy, in 2005.

The find was published in genesis: The Journal of Genetics and Development.