ITN

A fluorescent green pig in China has given birth to two piglets who have inherited their mum's genes.

The mother sow is one of three fluorescent green pigs successfully bred by a university research team in December 2006.

The team from Northeast Agricultural University in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, had injected fluorescent green protein into pig embryos.

The mother produced 11 piglets, but so far only two of them have been found to inherit the fluorescent feature.

The mouths, trotters and tongues of the two piglets glow green under ultraviolet light, just like their mum.

Pig breeder Zhao Qinghua said: "We are taking special care of these piglet, and what they eat and drink is different from other pigs."

It is the latest development in genetic science for the researchers after they started the project in 2005.

They injected genetic material from jellyfish into the womb of a sow which later gave birth to three pigs, including the now glowing mother sow.