The experiment where they purposely made poop glow in the dark

Investigator Kirk Maxey introduced us to this research by saying: “For those with fetishes, we can add multi-colors….”

He gives details, including the image reproduced here, on his blog, which begins thus:

Lose Weight…and your poop will glow in the dark too!

Sean Davies had a problem to solve: If you genetically modify enteric bacteria to make them more healthful, how can you quickly check to see if they’re happily growing away inside your experimental rat? The solution he chose could represent the pinnacle of scientific achievement in its own right – he incorporatedbioluminescence into the same bacteria. Those rats that were successfully colonized by the modified E. coli could be detected at a glance – because their poop now glowed in the dark….

BONUS: “The paper where I accidentally made genitalia glow in the dark”