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	View Edit Domain: GreenBio Title: * Body: SAN FRANCISCO - Why take all the trouble to dye silk when silkworms can be genetically modified to spin any colour of the rainbow?<P>That`s the goal of Japanese scientists who have genetically engineered silkworms to produce a specific colour, according to a new study.</P> <P>The study`s author, Takashi Sakudoh of the University of Tokyo, said understanding the pigment transport system of silkworms could `pave the way for genetic manipulation of the color and pigment content of silk.`</P> <P>In nature, silkworm cocoon colours vary from white, yellow, straw, salmon, pink and green. The colours in the silk are from natural pigments absorbed when the silkworms eat mulberry leaves.</P> <P>Japanese researchers observed in silkworms that produce white silk that the `yellow blood,` or Y gene, was mutated. A segment of DNA had been deleted.</P> <P>The Y gene enables silkworms to extract carotenoids, yellow-coloured compounds, from mulberry leaves.</P> <P>The scientists found that mutated insects produced a non-functional form of the carotenoid-binding protein (CBP), known to aid pigment uptake.</P> <P>Using genetic engineering techniques, the researchers introduced pristine Y genes into the mutant insects.</P> <P>The engineered worms produced working CBP and yellow-coloured cocoons.</P> <P>The yellow colour became more vivid after rounds of crossbreeding.</P> <P>Silk fibers could be produced in a flesh colour and a reddish colour, the authors wrote in the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.</P> <P>Ã‚Â© 2007 Khaleej Times</P> <P> </P> Captcha: Please Enter Code : * Time Zone: * Select the time zone Vocabularies Newsletter: Domain: Show summary in full view Input format Filtered HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Full HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. news_filter Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. More information about formatting options			Related Articles Silk Soymilk Makes a Move Towards GMO Labeling Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Announces the Successful Creatio... Researchers develop virus-resistant silkworm Fascinating spider silk Top GreenBio Articles

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