Exogenous enzymes upgrade transgenesis and genetic engineering of farm animals

Abstract

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 modifications. This paper provides a synopsis of enzyme-mediated genetic engineering in livestock species covering the early attempts employing naturally occurring DNA-modifying proteins to recent approaches working with tailored enzymatic systems.

Non-conventional expression systems for the production of vaccine proteins and immunotherapeutic molecules

“…62 Since then, techniques allowing precise genomic modification of animals have greatly improved, moving from random genomic insertion to precise site-directed insertions. 63 These new technologies are based on transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), 64 or the Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR)/ CRISPR-associated (Cas) protein 9 system. 65 A landmark example of the use of transgenic animals as an expression system was the production of human recombinant antithrombin (AT) in goat milk, which was given fast-track approval by the FDA on a compassionate-use basis for 5 patients with hereditary AT deficiency.…”

Sleeping Beautytransposition: from biology to applications

“…Transgenic animals stably expressing specific markers could be used to monitor dynamic processes and establish various drug-testing schemes (Szebenyi et al, 2015). Although transgenic techniques were traditionally aimed at mice, the SB system could offer a feasible solution to generate transgenic versions in a large variety of animal models, and also in livestock (reviewed in (Bosch et al, 2015)). Indeed, the employment of the SB system could have a positive impact on livestock production by facilitating an easy-to-use protocol to generate transgenic farm animals (Hu et al, 2011).…”

Animal agriculture and the importance of agnostic governance of biotechnology

“…Recent review papers [36][37][38] summarize the use of site-specific designer nuclease genome editing techniques to improve livestock for agriculture. These methods are being used to explore a variety of approaches to address issues affecting animal agriculture.…”