I need a two paragraph “200” words from the content listed below
How do transgenic animals contribute to human welfare?
Medical Applications
Transplant organs may soon come from transgenic animals.
a) xenotransplantation
Patients die every year for lack of a replacement heart, liver, or kidney. For
example, about 5,000 organs are needed each year in the United Kingdom
alone.25 Transgenic pigs may provide the transplant organs needed to
alleviate the shortfall.9 Currently, xenotransplantation is hampered by a pig
protein that can cause donor rejection but research is underway to remove
the pig protein and replace it with a human protein.25
Milk-producing transgenic animals are especially useful for medicines.
b) nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals
Products such as insulin, growth hormone, and blood anti-clotting factors
may soon be or have already been obtained from the milk of transgenic
cows, sheep, or goats.3,12,23 Research is also underway to manufacture milk
through transgenesis for treatment of debilitating diseases such as
phenylketonuria (PKU), hereditary emphysema, and cystic fibrosis.3,13,23,25
In 1997, the first transgenic cow, Rosie, produced human protein-enriched
milk at 2.4 grams per litre. This transgenic milk is a more nutritionally
balanced product than natural bovine milk and could be given to babies or
the elderly with special nutritional or digestive needs.4,21,23 Rosie’s milk
contains the human gene alpha-lactalbumin.
A transgenic cow exists that produces a substance to help human red cells grow.
c) human gene therapy
Human gene therapy involves adding a normal copy of a gene (transgene) to
the genome of a person carrying defective copies of the gene. The potential
for treatments for the 5,000 named genetic diseases is huge and transgenic
animals could play a role. For example, the A. I. Virtanen Institute in Finland
produced a calf with a gene that makes the substance that promotes the
growth of red cells in humans.24
