A lamb that was genetically modified with jellyfish protein was accidentally sold to an abbatoir and eaten at a French food chain, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported on Sunday.
The lamb, injected with jellyfish protein which makes the skin transparent and glow in the dark, was only going to be used for animal research, but for some reason was brought by a slaughterhouse along with an unmodified sheep.
Both lambs were then sold to an unsuspecting customer, whose identity is still unknown. Selling and eating genetically modified food products in France is strictly prohibited and now a judicial inquiry has been opened to determine how the lamb ended up on dinner plates, according to the Telegraph UK.
The Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in France, where the genetically modified lamb was created, has even claimed that the it was sold on purpose as a joke as part of a seemingly ongoing professional feud in a press release.
The ewe is the lamb of a genetically modified mother, who was given the green fluorescent protein jellyfish gene. This gene was used by researchers to study the lamb and other animals' hearts.
These genetically modified lambs were also used to study therapies on how to re-establish heart function after it suffers a heart attack or undergoes a transplant.
Representatives from INRA said that the tension between researchers working inside the institution is to be blamed for the incident and have even suspended one of them awaiting investigation, the Washington Post reported.
