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Scientists have modified the genes of mice, pigs, goats, chickens and butterflies for some time. But even though Crispr, a transformational gene editing tool, allowed seemingly impossible genetic modifications, the reptiles remained intact.
That changed with the birth of an almost transparent Anolis lizard, the first gene modified reptile, according to the project of a study released this week.
Ashley Rasys, a graduate student from the University of Georgia who helped create the lizard, arrived shortly after piercing her large M & M shell.
"I was floored," she said.
"We did not really expect to generate an early albino lizard," she added.
The steps necessary to create it are described in the paper, which was first reported by Science magazine. Scientists now have another model to use in genetic research.
"When we want to understand human biology, we use one of these model systems," said Douglas Menke, director of the genetics department at the University of Georgia and another author of the study. Until now, the 10,000 species of reptiles were banned. "People thought that they were too hard to work," he said.
The challenge was how to access the lizard breeding systems in the right way at the right time. What his team has proven, he said, is that it is possible.
"We can now create two to four mutant lizards in just one day of work," he said.
It took scientists about two years to understand how to access the lizard breeding system in the desired manner. Then, they had to use their genetic scalpel to target the eggs of the lizard's mother, while they were still growing in it.
Scientists could have modified various genes, but they focused on the mutation that codes for albinism largely because this modification is visual. Producing an albino lizard would show that their genetic modification was a success.
They thought it would take at least two generations to get there.
Having an albino mother does not mean that a person – or a lizard – will be albino. Mother and father must wear the mutation.
Because the researchers were targeting lizard eggs before they were fertilized by the father, they thought that getting the albino mutation in the paternal The DNA would require additional reproduction.
And yet, their very first genetically modified lizard appeared without any pigment. Three of the other 146 mounted eggs also did the same. In one way or another, they had altered maternal and paternal DNA in one fell swoop. The researchers have a hypothesis as to why this would require further study.
There is a movement to use gene editing to combat pathogens and environmental threats. Many reptiles are endangered. "The review could help," he said.
Jonathan Losos, an evolution biologist at Washington University in St. Louis, was equally enthusiastic. "This study opens the door to the study of the genetics of lizard evolution," he said.
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