Exogenous enzymes upgrade transgenesis and genetic engineering of farm animals

BOSCH P; FORCATO D; ALUSTIZA F; ALESSIO A; FILI A; OLMOS NICOTRA M; LIAUDAT A; RODRIGUEZ N; THIRUMALA R; KUES W

CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES

BIRKHAUSER VERLAG AG

Lugar: BASEL; Año: 2015

1420-682X

Transgenic farm animals are attractive alternative mammalian models to rodents for the study of developmental, genetic, reproductive and disease-related biological questions, as well for the production of recombinant proteins, or the assessment of xenotransplants for human patients. Until recently, the ability to generate transgenic farm animals relied on methods of passive transgenesis. In recent years, significant improvements have been made to introduce and apply active techniques of transgenesis and genetic engineering in these species. These new approaches dramatically enhance the ease and speed with which livestock species can be genetically modified, and allow to performing precise genetic modifi- cations. This paper provides a synopsis of enzymemediated genetic engineering in livestock species covering the early attempts employing naturally occurring DNAmodifying proteins to recent approaches working with tailored enzymatic systems.