Protein Production in Transgenic Animals

developments in biotechnology provide different methods for making products. How the industry responds to the new challenges will, to a large extent, be governed by the attitudes of the consumer. One of the major effects of biotechnology will be the altering of consumers’ attitudes towards farm crops. Future farms will produce food more efficiently, perhaps in environments where originally it was considered too difficult. In addition, farms will produce many different raw materials for industrial processes, a variety of pharmaceutical proteins for human and animal use, and serve as a source of vaccines for many of the developing nations. One of the technologies that will contribute to this expansion in new products is the generation of transgenic species, both plant and animal. The purpose of this paper is to introduce transgenic animal technology by describing what it is, how it is performed, and why it has such potential. A few examples of possible products will be discussed, and the concept of livestock “stem cells” will be introduced.