This report describes and evaluates animal biotechnology and its application
in veterinary medicine and pharmaceuticals as well as improvement in food
production. Knowledge of animal genetics is important in the application of
biotechnology to manage genetic disorders and improve animal breeding.
Genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics are also being applied to animal
biotechnology.
Transgenic technologies are used for improving milk production and the meat in
farm animals as well as for creating models of human diseases. Transgenic
animals are used for the production of proteins for human medical use.
Biotechnology is applied to facilitate xenotransplantation from animals to
humans. Genetic engineering is done in farm animals and nuclear transfer
technology has become an important and preferred method for cloning
animals.There is discussion of in vitro meat production by culture
Biotechnology has potential applications in the management of several animal
diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, avian flu and
bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The most important biotechnology-based
products consist of vaccines, particularly genetically engineered or DNA
vaccines. Gene therapy for diseases of pet animals is a fast developing area
because many of the technologies used in clinical trials humans were developed
in animals and many of the diseases of cats and dogs are similar to those in
humans.RNA interference technology is now being applied for research in
veterinary medicine
Molecular diagnosis is assuming an important place in veterinary practice.
Polymerase chain reaction and its modifications are considered to be
important. Fluorescent in situ hybridization and enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assays are also widely used. Newer biochip-based technologies and biosensors
are also finding their way in veterinary diagnostics.
Biotechnology products are approved by the Center for Veterinary Medicine of
the FDA. Regulatory issues relevant to animal biotechnology are described.
Approximately 109 companies have been identified to be involved in animal
biotechnology and are profiled in the report. These are a mix of animal
healthcare companies and biotechnology companies. Top companies in this area
are identified and ranked. Information is given about the research activities
of 11 veterinary and livestock research institutes. Important 108
collaborations in this area are shown.
Share of biotechnology-based products and services in 2011 is analyzed and the
market is projected to 2021.
The text is supplemented with 34 tables and 5 figures.Selected 250 references
from the literature are appended.
Table of Contents
0. Executive Summary 11
1. Introduction to Animal Biotechnology 13
Introduction 13
Historical evolution of animal biotechnology 13
Basics of biotechnology 14
DNA 14
RNA 14
Genes 15
Single nucleotide polymorphisms 15
Copy number variations in the genome 15
DNA sequences 16
Gene expression 16
Gene regulation 17
Proteins 17
Functions of proteins 17
Recombinant proteins 18
Monoclonal antibodies 19
Animal genetics 19
Molecular genetics 19
Twinning in cattle 20
Pig genetics 20
Genetic studies in dogs 20
Animal genomics 20
The mouse genome 20
The dog genome 21
Sequencing of the dog genome 21
Comparison of genomes of healthy and diseased dogs 23
Analysis of DNA copy number variation 23
The cat genome 24
Marsupial genomes 24
Genomes of non-human primates 24
Chimpanzee genome 24
Genome of the rhesus macaque 25
Genome of gorilla 25
Livestock genomics 26
Bovine genome 27
Bovine SNP map 27
Identification of genes in bovine stomach microbiome 28
Pig genome 28
Horse genome 30
Sheep genome 30
Chicken genome 31
Turkey genome 31
Salmon genome 32
Priority genome list of the National Human Genome Research Institute 33
Animal proteomics 33
Applications of proteomics in animals 34
Caseins in goat milk 34
Lactic acid bacteria 34
Applications of proteomics in animal healthcare 35
Antigenomics 35
Bioinformatics 35
Nanobiotechnology and animal health 36
Biomarkers and animal health 37
Recombinant protein manufacture 37
Animal biotechnology in relation to other technologies 37
2. Application of Biotechnology in Animals 39
Introduction 39
Applications of animal genomics 39
Genomics of disease resistance 39
Statistical genomics to improve breeding 40
Chicken breeding based on genomics 40
Bovine ankyrin 1 gene and beef tenderness 40
SNPs and longevity in dairy cattle 41
Share genomic data to improve cattle breeding programs 41
Genetic engineering 41
Livestock improvement by genetic engineering 41
Disease control by genetic engineering 42
Limitations and precautions for genetic engineering 42
Transgenic animal technology 42
Cloning animals 43
Nuclear transfer technology 44
Nuclear bisection for cloning 45
Zona-free cloning method 45
Abnormalities in cloned animals 46
Cloning from embyonic cells 47
Cloning of rabbits 47
Cloning the rat 48
Cloning the horse 48
Cloning the cow 48
Cloning the dog 49
Cloning in primates 49
Retrovector-mediated production of transgenic animals 49
Episomal vector-mediated gene delivery 50
Sperm-mediated gene transfer 50
Lentiviral transduction of male germ-line stem cells 51
Lentiviral transgenesis 52
Transgenic pharmaceuticals 52
Proteins from the milk of transgenic animals 52
Advantages of milk as source of transgenic proteins 53
Therapeutic proteins from rabbit milk 54
Recombinant human antibodies from cows 55
Therapeutic proteins from goat milk 55
Chicken transgenesis for the production of biopharmaceuticals 56
Concluding remarks about production of recombinant proteins in animals
56
Companies involved in production of transgenic pharmaceuticals 56
Transgenic food products 57
Milking genetically modified cows 57
Transgenic fish 57
Cloned animals as sources of milk and meat 58
Animal feeds from transgenic plants 58
Transgenic modification of plants to increase nutritional value of animal
feeds 59
Transgenic disease models 59
Technologies to create transgenic disease models 59
Gene manipulation techniques 59
Embryonic stem cells for gene targeting 60
Homologous recombination 60
Animal models of human diseases 61
Transgenic models for studying human drug metabolism and toxicity 61
The Human Genome Project and the role of transgenics 62
Genomic and proteomic analyses of transgenic animal models 62
Concern about health and welfare of transgenic animals 63
Safety of transgenic technology 63
Concluding remarks about use of transgenic animals 64
RNA interference technology 64
RNAi versus antisense 64
Applications of RNAi in animal biotechnology 64
Xenotransplantation 65
Pigs for xenotransplantation 65
Genetically engineered pigs for transplants 66
Risks of xenotransplantation 66
World Health Organization and xenotransplantation 67
Ethical aspects of animal biotechnology 67
3. A Biotechnology Perspective of Animals Diseases 69
Introduction 69
Infections in animals 69
Viral infections 70
Avian influenza 70
Animal surveillance of influenza 72
Animal biotechnology implications of H1N1 influenza 73
Animal corona viruses and human SARS 74
Avian coronavirus 74
Bluetongue virus 75
Canine parvovirus 75
Classical swine fever 75
Developing new treatments against FMD 75
Equine infectious anemia 76
Foot-and-mouth disease 77
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus 78
Rabies 79
Rinderpest 79
Schmallenberg virus 80
Bacterial infections 80
Bovine tuberculosis 80
Mycoplasmal pneumonia 81
Protozoal infections 81
Coccidiosis 81
Neosporosis 81
Toxoplasmosis 82
Trypanosomiasis 82
Nematodes 83
Infections that cross the species barrier 83
Complications of bacterial infections and antibiotic use in animals 83
