[Animals] Transferring genes to an animal from the same species

[Wassim]

 

The first genetically modified, or transgenic, animal was a mouse, in 1980. Two years later, researchers introduced the rat

 

growth hormone gene into mice. As a result, the mice grew much faster than the controls. With this and other experiences,

 

it was demonstrated that a gene from another species could be introduced into a mouse, integrated into its genome, be

 

functional, and be transmitted to offspring.

 

From that moment on, transgenic mice constituted a fundamental tool in the laboratory for the study of animal physiology

 

and served as experimental models to understand the bases of many diseases that affect humans.

 

Later, the technology was developed to make "knockout" mice, that is, mice in which the activity of a gene was canceled to

 

later analyze the effects produced by this lack. This technique is very important today in the study of gene function, both in

 

mice and in other organisms.

 

Transgenic mice are obtained by direct injection of the DNA into the pronucleus of the fertilized oocyte, or by

 

transformation of embryonic cells (ES) in vitro with the DNA of interest.

 

 

https://www.argenbio.org/biotecnologia/152-5-los-animales-transgenicos