Transgenic Animals

1
Transgenic Animals

• Allison Griffin
• Sarah Hudson

2
Who? What? Where? When?

• Geneticists Richard Palmiter and Ralph L.
  Brinster produced the first transgenic animal.
• UW and University of Pennsylvania
• 1982

3
What is a transgenic animal?

• An animal in which its genome has been
  deliberately modified.
• Transgenesis is a subunit of gene modification
  The chemical repair of a gene's defective DNA
  sequence.

4
How did they do it?

• DNA microinjection Palmiter and Brinster
  implanted a foreign gene into fertilized mouse
  eggs, transferred the eggs to surrogate mother
  mice, and then documented that the gene
  functioned in several of the offspring. By
  breeding these offspring, they further
  demonstrated that the gene could be passed on
  from generation to generation.
• Transgenic animals are produced when a foreign
  gene (transgene) is inserted into the animal.
• It is successful only when the gene is inherited
  by its offspring.

5
Advantages?

• I. Agriculture
• A. Breeding
• 1. Produce animals with desired traits
• B. Quality
• 2. Farmers use growth hormones to increase
  development
• C. Disease
• 1. Attempting to produce disease-resistant
  animals

6
Advantages? cont

• II. Medicine
• A. Research
• 1. Disease models to find effective treatment
• 2. Transplant organs may soon come from
  transgenic animals
• 3. Milk-producing animals are useful for
  medicines
• 4. Helps with human gene therapy
• III. Industrial
• A. Experimental
• 1. Chemical testing and material fabrication

7
Negatives?

• When a growth hormone is added to pigs/cattle,
  the hormone residue remains in the animal
  product, which is in the food we eat.
• Transgenic animals are also genetically mutated
  to do unnatural things
• Ex. Spider genes have been spliced into goats,
  causing them to produce silk in there milk, which
  is used for tennis rackets and clothing! YUCK!
• There are not many regulations on the extent of
  their experiments
• Is producing a disease-resistant pig a futile
  effort? There are so many strains of disease, is
  it worth the money and animals suffering?