A scientific feud may have put jellyfish-lamb meat on dinner plates in France
By Rachel Feltman June 23 at 4:42 PM Follow @rachelfeltman
On Tuesday, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported that a genetically modified lamb -- one spliced with jellyfish genes -- had accidentally been sold and (presumably) consumed as food-grade meat. This is a big whoops moment, obviously, though there's no evidence that the meat would have been harmful to those who ate it.
But now the plot thickens like mint jelly: According to a news release from France's National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), where the lamb was created, the animal may have been deliberately sent off for consumption as some kind of prank in a professional feud.
Good job, everyone.
The lamb in question was the ewe of a genetically modified mother. She'd been given the Green Florescent Protein gene of a jellyfish, which was used to help researchers study their hearts. According to the INRA, the genetically-modified sheep were being used to study therapies to restore heart function after heart attacks, including transplants.
But allegedly, the modified lamb was purposefully mixed in with non-modified sheep and sent off to a slaughterhouse. Le Parisien now reports that INRA representatives blame the tension between researchers at the facility for the act, and have suspended one individual pending an investigation.
Again, there's no indication that those who dined on lamb in France last year have any cause to worry. The same can't be said for researchers working at INRA, who apparently have it out for each other like whoa.
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