By JESSICA GLEASON
There is something to be learned from a mouse whose ears glow green.
Starting Fall Semester 1998, biotechnology students at BYU will be learning about transgenetic animals with the help of mice that have green fluorescent protein genes from jelly fish.
These mice with green ears, tails and feet will help students grasp the technicalities of molecular injection -- the process through which animals' genes are crossed.
There will also be transgenetic animals made at BYU that serve a higher purpose.
Dr. David Kooyman, BYU associate professor of animal science, came to BYU in July 1997, a veteran of Baxter International's Nextran subsidiary.
With Nextran, Kooyman made his first transgenetic mouse May 8, 1988, just six-and-a-half years after the creation of the first transgenetic mouse in October 1981.
Kooyman's first mouse had genes injected into it that were predisposed to mutate. The large tumors on the mouse's pancreas enabled the study of pancreatic cancer.
Five genes from yeast are now being cloned in BYU labs to be inserted into mice, Kooyman said. Eventually, these genes that make their own lysine will be inserted into pigs.
Lysine is an amino acid found in high-quality proteins, he said. Pigs that have the capability to make their own lysene would be able to thrive on a diet less protein-rich, leaving more high-quality proteins for human consumption.
As a result, human quality of life could improve in countries where pigs compete with people for high-quality protein sources.
To change the genetic make-up of a mouse, the desired gene is proceeded by a promoter so the mouse's body can read the gene. The promoter and desired gene are then placed into a mouse egg while it is still in the pronucleus stage, Kooyman said.
Tiny syringe-like glass tubes called pipettes are inserted into the egg and, with the help of a microscope, the new genes are injected before the sperm pronucleus and egg pronucleus fuse.
'It is almost an art ... it takes four to six months to learn how to do molecular injection,' Kooyman said.
A team of students are research assistants for the transgenetic animals project.
Abrahm Smith, 23, a junior from Fairfax, Va., majoring in business, is working with other research assistants to find the genes in cows which are responsible for milk production.
The students are using the newest DNA mapping technique to find the genes. The ability to transfer high milk producing genes into cows and then breeding more productive cows would be cost-effective.
'If you can go to a third-world country and help them raise their milk production 100 percent, you've really done them a favor,' Smith said.
Smith said he has plans to become a doctor, and Kooyman said students who are planning to go into the science field will come away from the transgenetic project with practical knowledge.
'They're learning techniques relative to biotechnology and learning to work with transgenetic animals,' Kooyman said. 'The students will leave here with a very powerful technique ... that other people don't have. It's a valuable skill to learn.'
Actual molecular injection will begin in March with the 40 mice BYU has purchased for that purpose.
Kooyman is working with other scientists in the biology department on other projects in the transgenetic animal field.
Kooyman is now working on a project that would implement cow growth hormones into guinea pigs, which are used as a major food source in some parts of South America.
BYU will pioneer working with transgenetic guinea pigs. The cow growth hormone would make the guinea pigs more feed efficient and up to 50 percent larger.