Presenting your current knowledge of animal biotechnology and the

application of animal biotechnology in agriculture and medicine.

Biotechnology is technology based on biology, more so when used in agriculture,

food science and medicine. It is also used often to refer to genetic engineering
technology. Biotechnology is a mix of many disciplines. Animal biotechnology is a
branch of biotechnology in which molecular biology techniques are used to
genetically engineer animals in order to improve their suitability for pharmaceutical,
agricultural or industrial applications.

Animal biotechnology is used mainly for two purposes: to produce disease models
that mimic human diseases and can therefore be used both in the study of disease
and new - drug testing; and to produce animals that can be employed in basic
biological research into biological development and function.

Gene transfer methods is the factor determining where we carry out this purposes
successfully or not. Scientists have transfer genes across species, families, and
even kingdom. A lot of efficient transformation methods are now available to
generate transgenic animals, and animal cloning provides many chances in the
experimental science. Creating transgenic animals requires us to make sure the
transgene turns on at the right time and in the right tissues; otherwise, our body will
recognize those genes as the foreign genes and reject them.

Microinjection, first developed in the mouse, has been the method that are used to
transfer genes between animals and are popular technique for creating transgenic
organism, particularly mammals. It is a technique of delivering foreign DNA into a
living cell through a glass micropipette. Once a gene has been characterised and
appropriately expressed in eukaryotic cells, a transgenic animal can be made by
microinjection of the cloned gene into the fertilized eggs of a donor animal. The
foreign gene must be injected before the first cell division, or cleavage, occurs in
order that all cells of the organism harbor the gene.

It includes several steps: first, we have to identify a foreign gene of interest and
insert the foreign gene into an appropriate vector. Then, DNA must be injected
directly into the pronucleus of a single fertilized egg and we have to implant the
microinjected egg into a surrogate mother. After that, let the embryo develop to term
and demonstrate that the foreign gene has been stably incorporated into the host
genome and that it is heritable in at least one of the offspring. Finally, we have to
demonstrate that the gene is expressed and regulated correctly in the host organism.
However, there are still some problems, disadvantages in microinjection. Few
injected eggs survive, and not all of those retain the new DNA. If it is not targeted to
a specific chromosomal locus, that new DNA is integrated at random. As a
consequence, there will be an unexpected change in gene expression, especially
when the new DNA disrupts other genes. Another two methods also producing
transgenic animals are retrovirus-mediated gene transfer and embryonic stem cell-
mediated gene transfer.

Transgenic animals, livestock are being improved to increase production while

decreasing costs to farmers, provide healthier, more robust animals, more nutritious
and healthier food, produce disease-resistant animals,... The possible applications of
animal biotechnology can be divided up on the basis of the reason for using the
technology.

The first important application of animal biotechnology is the application in

agriculture (farm animals). Animals could be genetically modified to increase
productivity (growth rates, feedstuff utilisation, disease resistance, etc.), to develop
new products (leaner meat, functional foods, etc.) or to reduce negative impact on
the environment. For example, by transferring a growth hormone gene from rainbow
trout into carp, we were able to create transgenic carp that grow much larger than
the original. Another example is the cloning of the cattle growth hormone gene,
which can be used to increase the milk production of dairy cows. Finally, pigs are
also produced specifically to create heart valves and other organs for humans.

Another important application of animal biotechnology is the application in medicine.

Some animals are used within basic research and as disease models (also called
research animals). Animals which are modified genetically are produced to
investigate the function of genes and gene products and to create animals that mimic
human disease such as cancer or Parkinson’s disease. The aim is to facilitate
research into the diseases and test possible treatments. In this area, cloning is used
for only to produce GM animals but also to study abnormalities in reproduction.
Other animals are used as bioreactors that produce biological compounds not
naturally occurring in them (so-called “pharm animals”). Typically a gene of
human origin is introduced in the animal genome. This might be done to cause
the animal to produce a specific protein in its milk that can be used in
producing medicine to cure or alleviate human disease. For example, a sheep
produced by the company PPL Therapeutics has been genetically modified to
express a human protein in its milk called alpha-1-antitrypsin. Alpha-1-antitrypsin can
be used in the treatment of lung disorders.