Genetically Modified Animals and
Pharmacological Research
Dominic J. Wells
Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................... 214
2 The Potential of Detailed Animal Genomes .............................................. 216
3 Use of Transgenic Mice to Reveal Drug Targets ......................................... 217
4 The Development and Use of Transgenic Farm Animals ................................. 218
5 Farm Animal Pharming ................................................................... 219
6 Gene Therapy for Diseases of Companion and Farm Animals ........................... 220
7 Summary .................................................................................. 222
References .................................................................................... 222
AbstractThis chapter reviews the use of genetically modified animals and the
increasingly detailed knowledge of the genomes of the domestic species. The
different approaches to genetic modification are outlined as are the advantages
and disadvantages of the techniques in different species. Genetically modified mice
have been fundamental in understanding gene function and in generating affordable
models of human disease although these are not without their drawbacks. Trans-
genic farm animals have been developed for nutritionally enhanced food, disease
resistance and xenografting. Transgenic rabbits, goats, sheep and cows have been
developed as living bioreactors producing potentially high value biopharmaceuti-
cals, commonly referred to as “pharming”. Domestic animals are also important as
a target as well as for testing genetic-based therapies for both inherited and acquired
disease. This latter field may be the most important of all, in the future development
of novel therapies.
D.J. Wells
Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London NW1 OTU, UK
e-mail: [email protected]
F. Cunningham et al. (eds.),Comparative and Veterinary Pharmacology,
Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology 199,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10324-7_9,#Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010
213