Twelve Extreme Animal Modifications in the Name of Science

Scientists just can't leave animals well enough alone. In some cases, it's for our benefit, whether we want to create new medicine, create better drug-sniffing dogs, or just breed giant delicious salmon. But sometimes it's for the animals themselves, shown with groundbreaking prostheses or embedded GPS to protect endangered animals from poachers. Check out our gallery of twelve of the craziest ways scientists are messing with animals.

Click to launch our tour of science-customized animals

Whether these are good or bad for us, ethically, morally, environmentally...well, those are arguments that won't stop raging anytime soon. (See the truckload of legislation attempting to variously ban or promote genetically modified animals for food, if you want an exhausting amount of examples.) One thing, at least, is beyond arguing: Those cloned drug-sniffer puppies are super cute, right guys?



ENLARGED, HYPEROXIC DRAGONFLIES

A recent Arizona State University study, presented at the Geological Society of America's 2010 conference, found that dragonflies reared in a hyperoxic environment (one with a higher-than-average concentration of oxygen) grew significantly larger. Much to our disappointment, we're not talking about eagle-sized dragonflies here, but a growth of around 15% is still a pretty interesting discovery



BIONIC CAT

Back in 2010, Oscar (pictured) became the first kitty to get prosthetic legs attached directly to his anklebones. The technology—called intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics, or ITAP—mimics the porousness of deer antlers to fuse flesh and metal together in a tight seal that keeps out dirt and bacteria. ITAP has since been tested in humans, who say the implanted prosthetic legs are much more comfortable than the detachable kind.

READ MORE AT: https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/ten-ways-scientists-are-customizing-animals#page-2

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