ANIMAL

BIOTECHNOLOGY
Why animals?

■Many genetic and physiologic similarities

between animal and man exist.
■Polio vaccine was developed using animals.
■Cataract surgery techniques were perfected on
animals.
■Dialysis for the end-stage kidney disease was
first tested in animals.
Why can’t we just test it in a group of
cell in a petri dish?

■It is not enough because new drugs

and medical procedures have effects
beyond single cells in tissues and
organs and must be tested in animals
to determine the impact of the
treatment on an entire organism.
 Why zebra fish?
■ Brachydanio rerio
■ Fast reproduction
■ Average progeny of female eggs
can exceed 200
■ Zebra eggs complete
embryogenesis in about 120 hours
■ Toxicity test can be observed in 5
days.
■ If toxic to zebra fish, then it is toxic
to humans.
Why rats/mice?

■ Rats are more commonly used because of their

size and physiology and more human responses to
drugs
■ Rats are superior to mice for many early drug
toxicity tests because of their physiology and more
human- like responses to drugs.
■ Large size of rats facilitates surgical and
physiologic experimentation.
 Why Dogs?

■If fish, rats and mice are not

the best to use.
■Lungs and cardiovascular
system of dogs and humans
are similar making them a
better choice for the study of
heart disease and lung
disorders.
 Monkeys and Chimpanzees
■Conduct of
HIV/ AIDS
research on
them because
they are the
only known
animal that
share humans’
vulnerability to
the virus
Cloning

■Animal that is grown from one cell of

its parent and that has exactly the
same genes as its parent
 1st step- collect eggs

Animal Cloning from the animal of

interest and the culture
for cloning

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Enucleation

■A process of removing the DNA in

the nucleus of a cell.
Limitations of cloning

■The donor cell must come to a LIVING

organism
■Attitudes and behaviors are shaped by
experiences
■Success rate is low
■Clones may become older before their
time
Bulletproof vests
■Bio-steel is made from spider web proteins,
which is one of the strongest fibers on
earth.
■The gene that governs the production of
spider silk proteins has been successfully
transferred into goats, and those goats
reproduced, passing the new gene to their
offspring.
■“silk-milk”
■Silk protein is purified in the goats milk and