South Korean scientists have cloned cats by manipulating a fluorescent protein gene, a procedure that could help develop treatments for human genetic diseases.

As part of the procedure's side effects, the cloned cats glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet beams.

A team of scientists led by Kong Il-keun, a cloning expert at Gyeongsang National University, produced three cats with altered fluorescence protein (RFP) genes, the Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday.