Question: The protein found in the milk of transgenic cow Rosie is:-
Options:
Human alpha-Lact-albumin
Human beta-Lact-albumin
Human alpha globulin
Human beta globulin
-Organisms that have altered genomes through artificial means are known as transgenic.
-The first transgenic cow was Rosie and was produced in 1997.
-It consists of the human alpha-lactalbumin gene.
-This milk contained 2.4gms of human α-lactalbumin per liter of milk.
-It produces human protein-enriched milk, which was a nutritionally more balanced product for human babies than natural cow milk as it contains human alpha-lactalbumin.
🔴Additional Information:
Reasons for production of transgenic animals –Â
-Study of Physiology & Development –
-Study of how genes and their regulation affects the physiological functioning of the body.
-Complex growth factors like insulin can be studied.
-Study of Diseases –
-Transgenic animals serve as model organisms for studying human diseases.
-They help in understanding the disease development process from genes.
-They are also used for investigating new treatment methods.
-Transgenic models exist for diseases like cancer, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer's.
-Biological Products –
-Many biological products that are essential for formulating medicines of use are often expensive.
-These products can be obtained easily from transgenic animals.
-This can be achieved by just introducing the gene responsible for the desired product into a suitable organism.
-Example – Alpha-1 antitrypsin is a human protein that is required for emphysema treatment.
-Vaccine Safety –
-Transgenic mice can be used to test safety of vaccines before using for humans.
-Toxicity Testing –
-Transgenic animals can be made more sensitive to certain chemicals or drugs.
-These animals are exposed to the toxic substances and their effects are then studied.