Tag: glowing cats

Today’s Wicked Wednesday is a look at the science fact and fiction in SINS OF THE FLESH. By now you may know that the “paranormal” part of my exciting new paranormal romantic suspense series is the genetic engineering that has occurred with Caterina, the heroine.

Caterina had been suffering from a brain tumor and goes to the scientists at Wardwell Laboratories in the hopes of curtailing the pain from the tumor. Told that a radical new gene therapy might not only help with the pain, but eliminate the tumor and restore her sight, Caterina willingly takes the risk. Unfortunately, the scientists also decide to use Caterina for a guinea pig and implant other genes which produce a number of side effects, the most evident of which are the changes to Caterina’s blood, skin and eyes.

Did I mention Caterina is glowing in spots as depicted on the cover? The glow is the uncontrolled proliferation of the genes implanted in Caterina which have been tagged with green fluorescent proteins (also known as GFPs). GFPs are used by scientists to track the expression of genes since they know where the GFP-tagged genes have gone when phosphorescence occurs.

Scientists have even been able to create fish, cats and mice that glow in the dark using these GFPs. Why do this? Some might say that it’s because you can, but the reality is that it also helps scientists determine if the genes they wish to use are being incorporated where they should go. With the glowing fish, scientists use them to track the effects of pollution and other problems associated with fish populations.

If you want some glowing critters of your own, you can visit www.glofish.com.

That’s the fact. As for the fiction part of it, while the first thing Mick Carrera notices about Caterina is her glowing blood after she’s been shot, it’s certainly not the last thing that grabs his attention!

Interested in more? Here’s a short video showing a cat that has been implanted with GFPs. Watch for the glow in the visible skin areas of the cat.

You can also sign up for the RT Book Reviews SINS OF THE FLESH giveaway contest for a chance to win a SINS OF THE FLESH lunch bag, t-shirt and autographed copy of the book. Just click here to enter!

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