Genetically Modified Organisms
• Genetic modification occurs naturally. Examples of spontaneous
mutation have been observed in virtually all species and mutated
animals
• A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose
genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering
techniques (i.e. genetically engineered organism).
• GMOs are the source of medicines and genetically modified foods
and are also widely used in scientific research and to produce
other goods.
• The genetic code can also be altered through human intervention
and the process of induced mutation means that investigators can
investigate gene functions
Transgenesis
• Traditional breeding methods used, many generations of
selective mating to improve livestock genetically for traits such as
• milk yield,
• wool characteristics,
• rate of weight gain, and
• egg-laying frequency.
• At each generation, animals with superior performance
characteristics are used as breeding stock.
• Until recently, selective breeding was the only way to enhance
the genetic features of domesticated animals
• Transgenesis, the direct transfer of specific genes/alleles
between individuals in order to change their phenotypic
expression in the recipients
• an animal whose genetic
composition has been altered by
the addition of foreign (exogenous)
DNA is said to be transgenic.
• Transgenic animal: An animal in
which there has been a deliberate
modification of its genome.
• A transgenic animal is one that has
had genetic material from another
species added to its DNA.
• The DNA that is introduced is
called a transgene,
• the overall process is called
transgenic technology, or
transgenesis.
Main applications of transgenesis in animal production
The applications of animal transgenesis into four categories
1st. to obtain fundamental information on living organisms and human
diseases.
2nd. to use animals as a source of pharmaceutical proteins, cells and
organs.
3rd. to improve animal production
– If, for example, the product of the injected gene stimulates
growth, animals that acquire this gene should grow faster and
require less feed.
4th. for the improvement of animal production quality
Transgenic cows exist that produce more milk or milk with less
lactose or cholesterol,
1. Basic Research
• Transgenic animals are generated to be used as models for the
study of gene function and mechanisms of action.
• By implanting genes into embryos, features of development such
as tissue-specific gene expression can be investigated
• Mouse is proving to be one of the most useful model systems for
investigating embryological development, and the expression of
many transgenes has been studied in this organism
• Transgenic mice have also become increasingly important for
biological and biomedical research and have generated a vast
amount of vital information about human diseases.
2. Study of human diseases
• gene function are also largely used to study human diseases
• Transgenic mice provide good models for many human diseases, and are
useful as test systems to evaluate potential therapies for human and
animal diseases.
i. Genetic diseases: treating cystic fibrosis
ii. Infectious disease:
• Listeriosis: Mice expressing the human E-cadherin gene in their
enterocytes are good models for the study of infection by L.
monocytogenes
• viral infections: Mice expressing the human CD 46 gene are sensitive to
the measles virus
iii. Alzheimer's disease: Alzheimer's disease is a complex pathology,
degenerative brain disorder that is characterized by the progressive loss of
both abstract thinking and memory. Mice whose certain genes responsible
for the disease have been knocked out are significantly less sensitive to the
disease
3. Pharmaceutical production
• the mammary glands of transgenic livestock used as bioreactors for
the production of pharmaceutical proteins.
• Transgenic sheep, goats, pigs, and rabbits for more than 100 different
human proteins that are secreted into milk
• Transgenic animals are also being used to produce serum
biopharmaceutical products such as antibodies that can be used for
the treatment of infections, cancer, organ transplant rejections, and
autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis
• A number of human disorders can be traced to the absence or
malfunction of a protein normally synthesized in the body.
• Most of these disorders can be treated by supplying the patient with
the correct version of the protein
• A transgenic animal is one that contains a cloned gene in all of its
cells. Knockout mice used to study the function of human and other
mammalian genes,
