Scientists say they've created ten genetically engineered piglets this year that glow green under a black light.
The pigs' embryos were injected with a molecule from bioluminescent jellyfish that carries instructions to make green fluorescent protein, or GFP. This technique allows researchers to attach harmless glow-in-the-dark tags to specific proteins in animals. The scientists who discovered and developed GFP earned a Nobel Prize in 2008, and researchers have previously created glowing bunnies, frogs and even glow-in-the-dark cats in the name of science.
Of the most common livestock animals, bred into domesticity for milk or meat or fur, the pig is easily the fastest learner. The pig doesn't pass the famous mirror self-awareness test, but it can use the mirror to find the location of food that's out of sight--which might just mean the pig cares more about food than its own reflection.
Yet pigs are also incredibly quick learners, perhaps the fastest in the entire animal kingdom. From the NYTimes:
"They’ve found that pigs are among the quickest of animals to learn a new routine, and pigs can do a circus’s worth of tricks: jump hoops, bow and stand, spin and make wordlike sounds on command, roll out rugs, herd sheep, close and open cages, play videogames with joysticks, and more."
Pot bellied pigs are truly misunderstood creatures, with almost everyone convinced that they’re simply eating machines that are only good at just that – eating.
But as different pet owners of pot bellied pigs would attest, these pigs are actually more than just constantly consuming eating machines, with their intelligence and capacity to adjust to moods being an established pot bellied pig trait.
The 2003 released Charlotte’s Web: Wilbur’s Great Adventure managed to focus on this pot bellied pig trait, through Wilbur’ the movie’s main character. Learning about the value of friendship from Charlotte the spider, the movie delves into the value of friendship, just as the original Charlotte’s Web storyline managed to successfully do so.
Though not as commonly kept as domestic pets like cats and dogs are, pot bellied pigs bear attributes which make them ideal as household pets. They are highly trainable and quite intelligent, as well as generally playful and quite interactive with people.
A pig sty may be classically described as smelly and unkempt, but the truth about pot bellied pigs is that they are actually clean creatures which are odor-free. The association of pigs with being dirty hails from the ascribed production-inclined conditions of pig stys, where pigs aren’t kept as pets, but rather as food commodities.
With an average lifespan somewhere between 12 to 18 years, pot bellied pigs, with all their attributes and characteristics, make for great domestic pets, even with their voracious appetites, a trait which remains to be true about pigs.
Their appetites may come as a downside for some pet owners, but as their intelligence and companionship traits would define them as great pets, true pet lovers can simply consider their diets as part of the pleasures of keeping a pet pot bellied pig.
Pigs were seen in a different light in the 1995 hit Babe, directed by Chris Noonan starring James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski and Christine Cavnaugh.
Touching up on the challenges encountered by sheep dogs and sheep herders, the movie tells the story of a smart pig who found a way – an avenue – where he didn’t have to become dinner.
A touching tale which speaks of the value of being polite and nice, Babe, though more than 10 years old, remains to be a popular wholesome family film which parents and their kids can enjoy on the same grounds.
The same goes with households who keep pigs as pets.
Pigs in the House! Though not exactly considered as a mainstream or exotic pet, there are households which keep pigs as pets, oftentimes allured by the pig’s natural charm and intelligence.
Far from being the dirty “mud caked” animals they are often described to be in movies and in stories, pigs are actually quite clean, generally quiet and are typically non-allergy-inducing. They are also odor free, and, as the movie Babe somewhat showed to extreme degrees, are highly trainable.
However, though they exhibit traits similar to dogs (minus perhaps their general non-allergenic status), pigs as pets require different treatment, particularly when food is being talked about: they tend to eat a lot.
Most pet pig owners who fail to recognize this pig trait encounter damages in the house, particularly when pigs are not fed enough, and they are headstrong in the search for food. Also, pigs get easily bored, so attention from pet owners must be duly given to them.
But apart from the feeding and attention rudiments involved in keeping pigs as pets, pigs in households are quite unique additions, responsive and interactive to the activities of members of the family.
Though their care and upkeep is very different compared to cats and dogs, having a pig as a household pet can be good as having a cat or dog around, with the plus of having a not-often-encountered type of pet at home.
Here is something you don’t hear about everyday: 500,000 pigs faced the risk of dying in Santiago, Chile because the delivery of food and water for them was made difficult by protesters.
An AFP report tells of the plight of half a million pigs in a pig-farm in Freirina, which is located some 500 miles from Santiago. The situation came to be after a number of protestors/demonstrators were objecting to the foul odors known to hail from the facility, which then led to rioting, with the reported burning of two police automobiles being the riot’s bigger “casualties”.
More than 20 arrests had already been done, but this didn’t stop protestors from cutting off road access to the pig-farm. The result was – half a million pigs, without their proper feeding and care regimens, were dying.
The facility, owned by Agrosuper, had to be temporarily closed and was declared as a sanitary alert area, given the health and sanitation risks linked to the half a million pigs’ condition.
It is reported that there were problems with the facility’s ventilation system, which had caused the “reflux” of odors which riled up locals into vehemently protesting against the continued operations of the facility.
Reports tell that locals and officials of the facility have undergone negotiations, in resolving the concerns and issues related to the whole incident.
A casual observer would be quick to think that the whole situation could have been better handled, without any sanitation risks or property damage ensuing from the situation. But far be it for anyone to judge others, the story tells a lot about how hot heads and not thinking straight could cause for unnecessary incidents and problems.
Bottom line, it pays to keep cool, especially when half a million pigs is involved.
The pigs' embryos were injected with a molecule from bioluminescent jellyfish that carries instructions to make green fluorescent protein, or GFP. This technique allows researchers to attach harmless glow-in-the-dark tags to specific proteins in animals. The scientists who discovered and developed GFP earned a Nobel Prize in 2008, and researchers have previously created glowing bunnies, frogs and even glow-in-the-dark cats in the name of science.
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