Topic 6 - Transgenic animals & reproductive biotech

Question 1

List 3 general approaches to producing transgenic animals

Answer 1

1. Pronuclear injection of embryos and implantation
2. Embryonic stem (ES) cell transfection and injection in embryos
3. Retroviral gene transfer to embryos

Question 2

What is molecular pharming? eg.?

Answer 2

production of therapeutic proteins in transgenic animals or plants
eg. vaccine proteins in bananas, insulin, interferon in milk

Question 3

Define ‘Embryonic stem cells’

Answer 3

Cells obtained from very early embryos (blastula) which are pluripotent - can develop into different cell types (eg. muscle, nerve, skin)