Question

compare transformation of plants and animals

Answer 1

Animal Transformation

Through transgenic animal transformation, new genetic information is introduced into an animal in one generation without compromising or limiting the overall pool of genetic information. Transgenic animals are produced by inserting genes into embryos prior to birth. Each transferred gene is assimilated by the genetic material or chromosomes of the embryo and subsequently can be expressed in all tissues of the resulting animal. The objective is to produce animals which possess the transferred gene in their germ cells . Such animals are able to act as "founder" stock to produce many offspring that carry a desirable gene or genes.These cells may then be altered genetically before being used to produce embryos. When these transformed cells participate in the formation of sperm and eggs, the offspring that are produced will be transgenic. Results have shown this method to be promising for producing transgenic mice. Studies are presently under way at the University of Illinois Department of Animal Sciences to develop ES cell lines for livestock species such as swine, cattle, and sheep.


Plant Transformation

There has been much excitement in the last few years about our ability to genetically engineer plants using the new techniques of gene isolation and insertion. Paired with standard methodologies of plant tissue culture and plant regeneration, these new techniques allow us to construct transgenic plants that contain and express a single, well-defined gene from any source - microbe, animal, or other plant species. The transgenic plants, usually normal in appearance and character, differ from the parent only with respect to the function and influence of the inserted gene.

This directed genetic engineering of plants requires that genes of interest are available, that the gene be introduced into plant cells capable of regenerating into intact plants, and that the gene carries with it a selectable marker so that the transformed plant cells can be isolated from a large population of untransformed, normal cells. Finally, the transformed plant cell must retain its capacity to regenerate. Certain species such as tobacco and petunia regenerate plants quite easily, making transgenic plants readily obtainable. Although corn, soybean, and wheat--the primary agricultural crops of Illinois and the Midwest--are more recalcitrant to these manipulations, progress is being made toward routine transformation and regeneration.