This is mad science at it's finest!

[Suicide Junkie]

That was explained in the article.

A genetic marker which makes stuff glow means you can see where stuff is going and what it is doing in a nondestructive way.
In actual use, you would only apply the marker to the specific thing you want to keep track of.

[Will]

They want to take stem cells from the glowing pigs, and implant them into another pig, to be able to observe how they grow without needing to turn it into ham and bacon. They're banking that a better understanding of how stem cells work in pigs will lead to a better understanding of how they would work in humans. And since stem cells are the biggest buzz word in medical tech right now, if you understand them better, people will pay you lots of money to figure out actual practical uses for the things.

[El_Phil]

Stem cells could be great. Well actually they are great, when you start life(ish) as a bundle of cells, they're the cells you consist of. Cells that can grow into anything are of course very usefull. Need a new leg? Grow/clone some new stem cells from yourself and use them to grow a new, genetically identical, leg.

The problem, as it always is, is making that actually happen. You don't need to figure out the practical use of stem cells, we know what we want to use them for, we just can't do it. Hence the research.

But still, glowing pigs! Do you need a reason to meddle with nature when the results are this good?

[atari_eric]

El_Phil said:
But still, glowing pigs! Do you need a reason to meddle with nature when the results are this good?

Oh, sure, you say that now; but what happens when these pigs grow thirty times their normal size and start eating your children???

[kerensky]

Or what about when they start flying???>.................

[Thermodyne]

kerensky said:
Or what about when they start flying???>.................

When pigs fly, you'll be needing a good umbrella

[TurinTurambar]

*/me hands kerensky another medal