cloning to produce human proteins Flashcards
5.20
how many attempts did it take scientists to clone a sheep?
276
why did scientists create Dolly the sheep?
they were exploring the possibilities of producing medicines in the milk of mammals
what is a transgenic animal?
an animal that contains a foreign gene within its genome
what does this foreign gene allow?
causes the animal to produce a useful compound which gets expressed within its milk
once the animal has become transgenic what can the animal be cloned for?
to produce a whole herd or flock, all of which produce the new special milk
what is this process called?
pharming
what has pharming been used to produce?
antibodies for targeting cancer cells in humans
blood clotting factor IX for haemophilia (blood clotting disorder)
Alpha-1-antitrypsin for cystic fibrosis sufferers
what could pigs be genetically modified to have?
human antigens (recognition proteins) on their cell membranes
what could pigs being GM mean?
allow pig organs to be transplanted into humans as it would reduce the immune response against the organ and risk of rejection
what is xenotransplantation?
transplants between different species
what could xenotransplantation lead to?
viruses being transferred between species
what is another way to produce human proteins, like antibodies?
genetically engineer goats or similar animals to produce human proteins, like antibodies in their milk
what could the GM pigs do?
they could be cloned to increase the population
what could their milk do?
the proteins could be collected from the milk and used to treat patients with weak immune systems, such as cancer or HIV patients, or other health conditions
