Uses of Transgenic animals

USES OF TRANSGENIC ANIMALS

Basic research

  • Knockout mice for determining the function of a gene
    • To study effects of gene products,biochemical pathways, alternative (compensatory) pathways, and developmental pathways
    • To recreate human diseases in animalsto establish models to test the beneficial effects of drugs or gene therapy.
  • Knockout mice for genetic disease models

Production of useful proteins

  • Naked human Hb from pigs
  • Human lactoferrin in cows’ milk
  • Alpha-1-antitrypsin in sheep
  • HGH in mouse urine (uroplakinpromoters)
  • Human antibodies in mice (H and Lchain tgenics à hybridomas)
  • Tissue plasminogen activator (TPA)in goats
  • Human antithrombin III in goats
  • Malaria antigens in goats(vaccine)
  • Alpha-glucosidase in rabbits(Pompe’s disease
  • Pig organs are rejected acutely due to the presence of human antibodies to pig antigens.Once human antibodies are bound to pig organs, human complement is activated and triggers the complement cascade and organ destruction. Transgenic pigs with complement inhibitors have been produced and are gaining feasibility as a source of xenogeneic organs for transplantation.
Last modified: Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 7:10 AM