Transgenesis and Selective Breeding
Introduction
The relation between humans and genetic manipulation is older than we think. Humans have been manipulating the transfer of genetic information between organisms for over 10.000 years. The first experiences were with cultivation of grains and domestication of animals. The facilities that these methods bring in order to keep having the necessary stuff for our survival make the humans improve their techniques. Now, with the advances of science, we have some sophisticated ways to make easier get the most wanted kinds of livestock and plants. Selective breeding and transgenesis are examples of popular (and successful) processes involving genetic manipulation in the current context.
Transgenic cows
Nowadays, with the many abilities of the science, techniques are improving livestock. One of them is the ability to engineer and altered DNA from organisms. These organisms are termed Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and may be modified one of 3 ways: by alteration of existing gene, by deletion of existing gene or by addition of foreign genetic material. The last one enables the GMO to express the trait coded by the new gene. These organisms are referred to as transgenic.
The aims of transgenesis can be for specific economic traits or for disease models (animals genetically manipulated to exhibit disease symptoms so that effective treatment can be studied).
The transgenic cows are an example of transgenic animals. As a transgenic animal, the transgenic cows have the extra gene (transgene) present in every cell, but it’s only expressed in mammary tissue, making the transgenes protein only found and extracted from the cow’s milk. In New Zealand, the AgResearch have been successfully producing transgenic cows that make modified milk or produce therapeutic proteins to treat human diseases.
Process
Making a transgenic cow is a multi step process. Scientists who produce transgenic cows use a range of techniques including DNA cloning,
The relation between humans and genetic manipulation is older than we think. Humans have been manipulating the transfer of genetic information between organisms for over 10.000 years. The first experiences were with cultivation of grains and domestication of animals. The facilities that these methods bring in order to keep having the necessary stuff for our survival make the humans improve their techniques. Now, with the advances of science, we have some sophisticated ways to make easier get the most wanted kinds of livestock and plants. Selective breeding and transgenesis are examples of popular (and successful) processes involving genetic manipulation in the current context.
Transgenic cows
Nowadays, with the many abilities of the science, techniques are improving livestock. One of them is the ability to engineer and altered DNA from organisms. These organisms are termed Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and may be modified one of 3 ways: by alteration of existing gene, by deletion of existing gene or by addition of foreign genetic material. The last one enables the GMO to express the trait coded by the new gene. These organisms are referred to as transgenic.
The aims of transgenesis can be for specific economic traits or for disease models (animals genetically manipulated to exhibit disease symptoms so that effective treatment can be studied).
The transgenic cows are an example of transgenic animals. As a transgenic animal, the transgenic cows have the extra gene (transgene) present in every cell, but it’s only expressed in mammary tissue, making the transgenes protein only found and extracted from the cow’s milk. In New Zealand, the AgResearch have been successfully producing transgenic cows that make modified milk or produce therapeutic proteins to treat human diseases.
Process
Making a transgenic cow is a multi step process. Scientists who produce transgenic cows use a range of techniques including DNA cloning,