As well as humans and plants, animals are a major part of Genetic Engineering.
Advances in biotechnology allow scientists to alter the genes in mice embryos and to
change the specific defects in the body. But mice are not the only animals part
of Genetic Engineering. Researchers around the world have begun altering pigs,
goats and sheep to make them more efficient in everyday life. Genetically Engineering
animals is a long and hard process with many steps required.
The female donor has to undergo many injections to maximize ovulation
and is then artifically inseminated. The embryo is surgically removed and
transferred into another female called a recipient. The recipient may only live a few days
because she will have to be killed when the embryo is removed and checked. At the appropriate time,
the embryo will then be implanted to another surrogate mother who will carry the fetus
and give birth to it. The downfall of this process is that it has a very low success rate. As many
as 40 sheep may be needed to produce one Genetically Engineered one and scientists are
not confident that the offspring will show the inserted gene intended.
Genetically Engineered animals now in development for food products will offer
consumers more choices for improved quality, nutrition, and environmental benefits.
One example may be producing pigs who have a very small layer of fat, giving a
leaner cut of meat. Once an animal has proved to
have a certain characteristic, scientists are able to create more identical animals.
To do this, the nucleus from one of the animals is transplanted into a fertilized egg
from which the nucleus has been removed. The egg is then cultured in the laboratory
before being implanted in the womb of a surrogate mother. In February 1997, The Roslin
Institute announced that it had
successfully cloned a sheep named Dolly. In theory, it won't be long before there are
whole herds or flocks of genetically identical animals. Aside from the inevitable
pain that is caused in the process, the main concern is that the reduced gene
pool which make up the animals may lead to a reduced resistance to disease and
an increased rate of deformities.
Scientists have now gained the ability to genetically modify animals in order
to produce valuable proteins. It has been applied to cattle, sheep and goats in order to
produce a variety of different proteins.
