Scientists in Japan say they have successfully implanted vegetable genes in a living animal for the first time.

Researchers at Kinki University near Osaka inserted genetic material from spinach into a pig, which they say will produce healthier pork.



I hope safety tests will be conducted to make people feel like eating (the GM pork) for the sake of their health

Akira Iritani, research leader

The experiment, which began several years ago, has yielded two generations of pigs with the spinach gene known as FAD2. Research team leader Akira Iritani said the pigs with the spinach gene had produced less fat than normal. "It is confirmed for the first time in the world that a plant gene is functioning properly in a living mammal, not in a cultured cell," said Professor Iritani. Safety issues The experiment involved inserting the spinach gene into a fertilised pig egg, which was then implanted in a female pig's womb to produce genetically modified piglets.



