Los Angeles Project
Cathy Tie (left) and Josei Zayner (DIR), co-founders of Los Angeles Project
Los Angeles Project, a new controversial company by Biohacker Josie Zyner, is creating a new generation of genetically modified pets. For now, fluorescent rabbits. In the future, dragons and unicorns. Yes, read well: dragons and unicorns.
For thousands of years, humans have been creating selectively dogs and cats to raise more appeal.
A new company, now, now aims to accelerate this process through genetic engineering to create rabbits that shine in the dark, hypoallergenic dogs and cats, and possibly one day, true unicorns.
Los Angeles Project is a creation of the controversial Biohacker Josie Zaynerwhich in 2017 was publicly injected (and with live transmission) with the gene editing tool during a Conference in San Francisco.
“I want to help humans genetically change“, Said Biohacker, scientist and artist previously known as Josiah Zayner.
The then former NASA scientist, who became a businessman and a celebrity with supporters around the world due to Defense of science ‘anti-stablishmentit was, after having made a fecal transplant and a covid vaccine
Zayner, also founder and executive director of, a company that sells genetic engineering kits for home use, now wants to create the Next generation of pets. “I think, as a human species, it is a kind of moral prerogative to raise the level of animals,” says Biohacker, quoted by.
Co-founded with the biotechnology businesswoman Cathy Tieold, Los Angeles Project aims to Create animals “more complexinteresting, beautiful and unique ”than today, says Zayner.
The name of the company, based in Austin, is an allusion to another controversial effort – the Manhattan Projectwhich developed the first atomic bomb during World War II.
In the last year, Los Angeles Project has functioned in “stealth mode”while your five -person team has been experimenting with embryos of frogs, fish, hamsters and rabbits.
Researchers are using CRISPR to erasing genes and inserting new genes in rabbit embryos, so that they produce fluorescent green proteinyou gfp.
The team is also testing A LESS KNOWN TECHNIQUEknown as integration mediated by restriction enzymes, or REMIto integrate new DNA in the embryos.
Making these modifications to the level of the embryo alters the genetic composition of the resulting animal. If all goes well, the company will have Bright Baby Baby Coys Within a month.
They will not be the first brilliant animals ever raised. GFP is usually used by scientists to follow and monitor visually The activity of genes or cellular processes in an organism, often to study disease.
Investigators already previously created rodents, monkeys, dogs, cats and fluorescent rabbits, but none of these animals were raised for commercial purposes.
But Los Angeles Project’s pets are designed to sell to consumers. “I think The space of pets is huge And totally undervalued, ”says Zayner.
After fluorescent rabbits, the company intends to create cats that do not have the fel d1 proteinthe main allergen that these felines produce, and chacals.
But one will not be here, it aims to bring to life animals that so far we only know of fables and mythology Dragons, Unicorns and Lebrílopes-Mythical animals of American folklore that are an anti-pole hare cross. These creations, however, require much more complex editing techniques.
“Personally, I am very interested in unicorn“Tie. “It is a difficult task that would require understanding genetics behind the narrow’s twisted horn and then find out how to transfer it to a small animal before turning it into a horse.”
“Our goal is to analyze several genes at the same time, to really understand the various genes that contribute to a very complex characteristics and then be able to transfer these changes From one species to another, ”says Cathy Tie.
“Great ideas take a long time to realize and, as a company, we have to evolve to meet the market needs, but we also have to really understand the long -term vision of the technology we are building,” concludes Bioengenheira.
