Genetic Branding

I am sure these scientists have better use for “Temporal and spatial control of transgene expression using laser induction of the hsp70promoter” than branding… but I can think of a few additional uses myself. Apparently according to the telegraph:

A team at the University at Buffalo that developed the world’s first GM butterfly has now adapted the work to create the fluorescent marking on the wings of the insect to demonstrate an innovative tool that will make it easier to find out what genes do, in this case those that play a role in making the patterns on wings, from stripes to eye spots.

The researchers demonstrated their method by using a laser to stencil the silhouette of a butterfly upon the surface of a butterfly’s wing.

The butterflies were otherwise unaffected by the laser, which could activate specially implanted fluorescent genes, according to the study published yesterday in the journal BMC Developmental Biology by a team in America and Germany.