AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a phylogenetically conserved serine/threonine protein kinase, has been proposed to function as a fuel gauge to monitor cellular energy status in response to nutritional environmental variations. AMPK system is a regulator of energy balance that, once activated by low energy status, switches on ATP-producing catabolic pathways (such as fatty acid oxidation an...

Until recently, pronuclear microinjection of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was the standard method for producing transgenic animals. This technique is now being replaced by more efficient protocols based on somatic nucleartransferthat also permit targeted genetic modifications. Lentiviral vectors and small interfering ribonucleic acid technology are also becoming important tools for transgenesis....

We have shown that it is possible to generate transgenic rats efficiently, allowing direct experimentation in this species, without first testing constructs in the mouse. Having developed the technology for producing transgenic rats, we now hope to generate new and precise models of hypertension and to test candidate genes that may be responsible for the phenotype in existing animal models. The...

Recent progress in the field of biotechnology and the production of transgenic livestock has raised a question regarding the need for the regulation of these animals. There is also the need to regulate nontransgenic animals resulting from transgenic animal research. It is anticipated that several governmental agencies will be involved in regulatory issues pertaining to these animals. The United...

The term moral considerability refers to the question of whether a being or set of beings is worthy of moral consideration. Moral considerability is most readily afforded to those beings that demonstrate the clearest relationship to rational humans, though many have also argued for and against the moral considerability of species, ecosystems, and ‘‘lesser’’ animals. Among these arguments there ...

Cloning of genes related to polyamine metabolism has enabled the generation of genetically modified mice and rats overproducing or devoid of proteins encoded by these genes. Our first transgenic mice overexpressing ODC (ornithine decarboxylase) were generated in 1991 and, thereafter, most genes involved in polyamine metabolism have been used for overproduction of the respective proteins, either...

BACKGROUND Multi-transgenic pigs produced for use in xenotransplantation have to be screened for the presence and expression of porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERV) to select animals with low PERV load. The production of transgenic pigs may also be associated with the integration of the transgene adjacent to or into the locus of a PERV provirus, potentially leading to an enhanced virus expres...

Proteins started being used as pharmaceuticals in the 1920s with insulin extracted from pig pancreas. In the early 1980s, human insulin was prepared in recombinant bacteria and it is now used by all patients suffering from diabetes. Several other proteins and particularly human growth hormone are also prepared from bacteria. This success was limited by the fact that bacteria cannot synthesize c...