Gene Technology

Gene Technology

Introduction

The Genetically modified animals are made so that they can be used in the research, for production of different drugs, for safety and to be used concentrated agriculture. The research of medical field is the only field which has developed with time while all other fields are at their early stage. There have been several modifications in different species like mice and different techniques are used for it.

Types of modifications

There are thousands of genes that have been inserted into mice. A study that was conducted about the mouse diseases states that approximately 93 modifications of genes are carried to explore about the single function of gene. Every genetic modification is first experimented on mice and different combinations of transgenes and promoters are used. The modification at a genetic level is a costly business is it is carried out with mammals other than mice. The cost that is calculated for a transgenic calf is approximately $300,000 (Leaver & Law, 2003). Pharmaceutical production is the main of area of progress in larger animals and many greater benefits can be obtained. Studies have shown that there has been large amount of investment in this area. The cost on drug discovery was found to be $286 million dollars in the year 1998 which is the 30% of all the business enterprise capital of biotechnology (DiMasi, Hansen & Grabowski, 2003). There have been many genetic modifications in birds and mammals and the functional genes are inserted in them. The main aim of many modifications in animals was the development of the genetic techniques and validates them. There have been many genetic modifications and half of the modifications were done to produce the pharmaceutical proteins with the help of transgenic animals. Some modifications are carried for agricultural purposes. Gene's codes are also added to increase the growth releasing factors and growth hormones so that the productivity can be increased of the farm animals which are genetically modified. Some modifications were carried to develop the resistance of disease but the major modifications were for the development of transgenic techniques and strategies. The modifications for agricultural purposes included alteration of the protein content of milk, increased growth of wool and for the production if biosteel.

Genetic Modification Techniques

The primary techniques employed for the genetically modification in the animals includes micro-injections, which are also referred to embryo stem cell manipulation, and viral transfection. Few of the studies successfully performed the sperm mediated methods. Nuclear transfer and cloning is a method for modifying genes as a main cause to create animals those are genetically modified. However, if the issues related to the recent nuclear transfer are set and resolves then the current genetic manipulation techniques can be revolutionize (Verhoog, 2003)

The Mechanism of Genetic Modification Techniques

The cells within a living organism comprise of genetic materials which is made up of complicated molecules such as DNA or deoxyribo-nucleotide.the molecule sequence forms genes which is responsible to code for a particular protein (for instance it contains codons and instructions determining ...