1. Are you serious?

   • Completely.

2. Is Nuclear waste actually a problem?

   • No. Nuclear waste is regarded with extreme care and stored in such a way that there is no danger for us currently, or for future generations. There are brilliant people around the world that are aware of the dangers, and know how to address them.

3. So what is the problem really?

   • There are tons of potential dangers that could be detected by a colour changing cat. Examples can include cadmium, mercury, carbon monoxide and many other hazardous molecules. There will definitely be lots of new applications that can stem from this research.

4. Are we actually working with cats?

   • Not yet, and probably not for a while. The primary scientific goal is to establish a C. elegans lab. The ethical/safety/scientific concerns with working on cats are obvious. But, we think this would make fantastic discussion and would love to have some people who do research using cats involved.

5. Are you working with radiation?

   • Also no. First rule of radiation safety is “Don’t use radiation if you don’t have to”. Despite being an incredibly useful tool for many different scientific studies that have revolutionized health and medicine, it’s not something to play around with.

Resources/references

Scientific Resources:

• http://www.openworm.org/

• http://www.geppetto.org/

• http://www.wormbook.org/

• http://www.wormatlas.org/

Original inspiration:

99% Invisibile Podcast - http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/ten-thousand-years/

About Nuclear Energy:

• http://www.world-nuclear.org/

Wikipedia Articles:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucca_Mountain_nuclear_waste_repository

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Interference_Task_Force

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Isolation_Pilot_Plant

Homepage image:

Wongsrikeao et al., Antiviral restriction factor transgenesis in the domestic cat, Nature Methods 8, 853–859 (2011) http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v8/n10/full/nmeth.1703.html