Question

Transgenic animals have been used

• A. All of the above
• B. For testing toxicity of drugs
• C. For testing safety of vaccines
  
• D. To produce useful biological products

Answer 1

The correct option is A All of the above

Transgenic animals

The animal whose genome has been modified to express a foreign gene (a gene from another organism) is called a transgenic animal.

Examples include transgenic mice, cows, mice, pigs etc.

Vaccine safety

To check the efficacy, side-effects and safety of a vaccine, it is tested on transgenic animals or disease models before being introduced in human trials.

For example, the polio vaccine.

Drug safety testing

Transgenic animals are also used to study the effect and safety of a drug before making it commercially available.

Transgenic animals are engineered such that they carry the gene, increasing their sensitivity to the chemicals under testing.

Then the effect of the chemicals on them is studied. This is the basis of toxicity testing.

Biological products

Transgenic animals can be used to make biological products by introducing the genes that code for desired biological products. These biological products can be used to cure certain diseases too.

One of the examples of utilising transgenic animals include Rosie, the cow that has been engineered to produce milk containing more amounts of human alpha-lactalbumin that has higher nutritional value.

Useful biological products that cure diseases such as emphysema can be produced by transgenic animals.

Final answer

(d) All of the above.