(a) Why are transgenic animals so called?

(b) Explain the role of transgenic animals in (i) Vaccine safety and (ii) Biological products with the help of an example each.

(a)

• Animals that acquire foreign gene that is intentionally inserted into the genome is known as transgenic animals.

• The foreign gene is inserted in the genome of the organisms with the help of recombinant DNA technology.

(b)

• Role of transgenic animal in vaccine safety:

The transgenic mice are being used in testing the safety of vaccines before they are available to humans use.
Example : To test the safety of the polio vaccine, transgenic mice are used. If as expected good results are observed from transgenic then after that they use monkeys to test the safety of batches of the vaccine.mice

• Role of transgenic animal in production of biological products :The transgenic animals produce useful biological products that can be developed by the introduction of the gene of interest that is the portion of DNA (or genes) which codes for a particular required product such as a human protein that is α-1-antitrypsin used to treat emphysema.

• Examples: Transgenic cow, Rosie is used for the production ofhuman protein-enriched milk. The milkcontained the human alpha-lactalbumin and it was nutritionally a more suitable product for human babies than natural cow-milk.