Experimental Pigs Turned Into Sausages
Thursday July 26 7:51 AM ET
Experimental Pigs Turned Into Sausages
LONDON (Reuters) - Three genetically modified pigs were turned into sausages after being stolen from a U.S. university, New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
The pigs, which had been modified to carry a copy of a gene involved in eye function, had already been killed and were meant to be destroyed.
But they were stolen by an employee at the University of Florida and turned into sausages by an unsuspecting butcher.
"This is the only case of its kind we know of,'' Donald Ralbovsky, of the National Institutes of Health, told New Scientist weekly magazine.
None of the nine people who ate the meat has reported health problems, but officials are still taking precautions to make sure it does not happen again.
According to the magazine, Florida prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident and all genetically modified animals at the university were to be spray-painted after being killed to make sure they are not eaten.