LONDON: Scientists at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health in China have genetically modified two beagles to have hulk muscles.
The dogs, who were part of an experiment involving 65 puppy embryos, were the only two successfully bred to lack the ability to produce myostatin, a protein that regulates muscle growth. The male, named Hercules, didn’t quite fit the bill – his body still makes some myostatin, though not much. The female, Tiangou, produces none at all, so she will likely be the candidate for further breeding. Beagles are one of the most common animals used in biomedical research.
The special dog DNA was created using a gene editing technique called CRISPR. CRISPR has boomed in popularity this year, allowing scientists to experiment with making designer everything, from pigs to fruit to (and this is the part freaking everyone out) human embryos.
The end goal of the beagle research is to create a line of dogs whose muscular infrastructure can be manipulated to mimic diseases like muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s Disease. But as soon as the news was out, people were guessing how soon the animals will be on the market as pets. It’s not hard to imagine the dogs being up for sale soon, given the influx of “designer” animals like micro-pigs. And the researchers admit that that is one potential revenue source.
