Question

Name the first transgenic cow developed and state the improvement in the quality of the product produced by it.

Answer 1

Hint: They are genetically modified organisms to produce better products that get inserted into an extra gene in their DNA. This extra gene may come from different species or the same species.

Complete answer:
The first transgenic cow was developed in 1997, named Rosie. It consists of the human alpha-lactalbumin gene. The milk of the transgenic cow produced proteins in their milk, their milk contained about 2.4 grams of human protein per liter of milk and was found to be more nutritionally balanced for human bodies than that of the natural cow milk. However, this protein is only in mammary tissue which means that this will only be found in the cow’s milk and can only be extracted from there.
The transgenic cows are kept separate from regular herds. Transgenic cows look identical to normal cows. Researchers use ear tags and microchips to identify transgenic cows and their calves. One of the aims of the research program is to show that transgenic cows pass on their transgenes to subsequent generations.
Making a transgenic cow is a multistep process. First, the gene for the desired product is identified and sequenced. Then a gene construct containing this desired gene is created using DNA cloning, digestion, and then the gene construct is then introduced into female bovine (cow) cells by transfection.

Note: In 1974 Rudolf Jaenisch created a transgenic mouse by introducing foreign DNA into its embryo, making it the world’s first transgenic animal. Mice with genes knocked out were created in 1989. The first transgenic livestock was produced in 1985. The first genetically modified animal to be commercialized was the GloFish, a Zebrafish. The first genetically modified animal to be approved for food use was AquAdvantage salmon in 2015.