The programme, titled Channel 4 Farm, will feature glow-in-the-dark pigs, goats that produce silk and an enormous muscle-bound cow known as ‘Schwarzenegger’.

The programme’s makers promise to look at the ‘science behind the headlines’ of genetic modification and biotechnology.

‘It’s not a freak show,’ said a Channel 4 spokesman. “The idea is to make the subject of transgenics accessible to a wider audience. This is a subject that has the potential to change the food chain and alter the basics of life. We want to see what can be learned from it.”

The pigs were made fluorescent green by adding genetic material from jellyfish into their embryos. The pigs’ eyes, teeth and trotters are bright green, and when ultra-violet light is shone on them, their entire bodies glow.

The so-called ‘Schwarzenegger cow’ is a variant of the Belgian blue breed genetically-engineered to contain less fat and more muscle so that its milk yield is increased.

Source: Farmers Guardian