Animal Farm

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Animal Farm

• Why do we Genetically Engineer Animals?

2
Animal Biotechnologies

• Assisted Reproductive Technologies - ART
• Animal Cloning Embryo Cloning
• Animal Transgenics Enhance performance
• Animal Transgenics Pharmaceuticals and
  organs/tissues
• Use of biotech products in animal agriculture
  rbST rpST.

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Animals Benefit

• According to USDA, there are 105 licensed biotech
  products for animals. These products include
  veterinary vaccines, biologics and diagnostic
  kits. The animal health industry invests more
  than 400 million a year in research and
  development. Current sales of biotech-based
  products for use in animal health generate 2.8
  billion (out of a total market for animal health
  products of 18 billion).

http//www.bio.org/foodag/facts.asp24
4
Animals Benefit

• Biotechnology provides new tools for improving
  animal health and increasing livestock and
  poultry productivity. These improvements come
  from the enhanced ability to detect, treat and
  prevent diseases and other problems.
  Additionally, feed from biotech crops are better
  designed to meet the dietary needs of different
  farm animals, improve feed efficiency and reduce
  waste. Just like other assisted reproduction
  techniques such as artificial insemination,
  embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization,
  cloning can also significantly improve animal
  breeding programs and decrease the occurrence of
  hereditary diseases and improve the health of
  animals.

http//www.bio.org/foodag/facts.asp24
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Animals Benefit

• The health and well-being of all animals can
  benefit from biotechnology. The health of
  companion animals can be significantly improved
  through the use of biotech vaccines, such as the
  rabies vaccine, and new diagnostic tests that can
  identify things such as feline HIV. Domesticated
  farm animals can greatly benefit from
  biotechnology through vaccines and diagnostic
  tests. Improved breeding programs enhanced by
  biotechnology can drastically improve herd health
  by eliminating hereditary diseases. Reproduction
  and breeding techniques influenced by
  biotechnology, such as in vitro fertilization,
  artificial insemination can even save endangered
  species by restoring shrinking populations.

http//www.bio.org/foodag/facts.asp24
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Wild Animals Benefit

• Worldwide, researchers have used cloning
  technologies to conserve endangered species. In
  the last four years, scientists have successfully
  cloned at least three endangered animals the
  European mouflon, the guar, and the banteng, the
  latter of which is viewable to the public at the
  San Diego Zoo. Several zoos and animal
  conservation organizations, including the San
  Diego Zoo, the Zoological Society of London and
  the Cincinnati Zoo have created "Frozen Zoos" or
  genetic databases to cryogenically stores samples
  of DNA, gametes and cell tissues from endangered
  or threatened mammals, birds and reptiles.

http//www.bio.org/foodag/facts.asp24
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Companion Animals Benefit

• Companion animals, better known as pets, benefit
  greatly from vaccines and diagnostic tests based
  on biotechnology. Biotech-based products to treat
  heartworm, arthritis, parasites, allergies and
  heart disease, as well as vaccines for rabies and
  feline HIV are used daily by veterinarians. Gene
  therapy has been used to help restore sight to
  blind dogs, as well as for melanoma, canine
  lymphoma and bone cancer. Also, some
  biotechnology companies offer DNA sequencing of
  purebred animals, such as dogs, for
  identification purposes.

http//www.bio.org/foodag/facts.asp24
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Targeted Gene Expression for Production of
Recombinant Proteins in Milk
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Is Our Food Safe?

• Under FDC act of 1992
• Companies have legal obligation to comply with
  all laws regarding food safety.
• Applied equally to all foods regardless of method
  of production.
• FDA has authority to remove foods that do not
  meet safety standards.

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Current Use of Animal Biotechnology

• Recombinant proteins to enhance performance
  (rbST, rpST, Bioclip).
• Sexed semen/embryo sexing.
• Animal models for Human disease.
• Pharming.
• Marker assisted selection and quantitative trait
  loci (Genomics).

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Future uses of Animal Biotechnology

• Xenotransplantion of animal organs/tissues.
• Transgenic animals for quantitative production
  traits.
• USDA IGF pigs
• Spermatagonial transplantation.
• Interspecies crosses- Designer animals.

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Concerns, What Scientists Can Do

• Where we can help.
• Food Safety
• Animal Welfare
• Where we cannot help
• Religious
• Animal Rights