Lecture 2 - Biotechnology and Animal Transgenics Flashcards
What is animal biotechnology?
The use of living organisms to make, modify and improve productivity
What are some examples of biotechnology application in animal genetics and breeding?
Transgenics, genetic markers and MOET.
What are some examples of biotechnology in animal reproduction?
AI, ET, hormonal assays and monoclonal antibodies.
What are some examples of biotechnology application in animal nutrition?
Rumen function, antinutritive factor elmination and poor quality forages.
What are some examples of biotechnology application in animal health?
Disease diagnosis and vaccines.
What are DNA markers and MAS and why are they advantageous?
‘tags’ on genes which influence quantitative traits.
MAS allows the testing of young animals to check that their genes will be good enough.
They are advantageous because lowly heritable traits can be enhanced and long generation times are reduces.
What is a transgenic animal and what are their goals?
Transgenic animals are genetically modified organisms with DNA from another source inserted in their genome. The goals of transgenic animals = - reaserch into human disease - improve understanding of gene function - use animals as bioreactors.
What are three different methods of creating transgenic animals?
- Mircoinjection where a gene is injected into the pronuclei of a fertilised egg
- Virus insertion where eggs are virus infected PRIOR to fertilisation and virus is intergrated into chromosomes.
- Sperm mediated transfer where sperm carries the foreign gene and then fertilises the egg.
What are three draw backs to transgenic fertilisation?
- Random integration, you can’t control where the DNA is inserted.
- Eggs must be harvested and fertilised in vitro which doesnt always have a good success rate
- More than one copy of the gene can enter the genome
What is an example for transgenic cows?
Dairy cows carry two types of casein gees which allow them to produce 13% more milk protein. This means they need less milk to make cheese.
In this case the DNA added it NOT foreign.
What is done to transgenic fish?
transgenic fish have extra copies of growth hormone and a transgene is used to increase growth using an antifreeze proteins (AFP).
when the temperature drops to where the fish usually stops growing the growth hormone is turned on and the fish continues to grow even in colder climated.
What is a transgenic goat example?
silk gene from spiders was transferred into goats so that males would sire silk producing females which is then extracted from their milk.
the fibers are stronger and more flexible than steel.
Outline the transgenic success rate.
The transgenic success rate is quite low as there are multiple attempts that need to be taken along the steps in order to end with one survived animal.
