Genetic Manipulation

Genetic manipulation refers to the creation of new life forms through deliberate modification of DNA––the material responsible for inherited characteristics. Animals born following the introduction of a gene from another species are known as “transgenic,” whereas animals born with a missing gene are termed “knockouts.” The first animal to be genetically manipulated was a giant mouse––created nearly 20 years ago––with the gene for human growth hormone incorporated into the genetic makeup. Since then, genetic manipulation has become big business, and has led to the creation of “designer” mice, rats, fish, pigs, sheep, cows, goats, chickens, rabbits, and even monkeys.

Because of the unpredictable nature of genetic manipulation, any “mistakes” that are made can have disastrous consequences for the animals involved. Transgenic mice have suffered from severe changes such as abnormal enlargement of the liver and kidney disease that have resulted in early death. Transgenic pigs who were bred to grow faster and leaner have suffered from lameness, lethargy, bulging eyeballs, degenerative joint disease, and heart problems. The widely recognized potential for genetic manipulation to result in adverse effects on animal health and well being prompted the Canadian Council on Animal Care to classify these experiments in the second-most severe “category of invasiveness”––with the potential to cause “moderate to severe distress or discomfort.”

The creation of a new strain of genetically manipulated animals is also incredibly wasteful and inefficient. Only between one and 10 percent of animals successfully incorporate the foreign genetic material the experimenters inject into their embryos; those who do not are killed. This means that as many as 99 animals may be killed for every “viable” transgenic animal born. Not surprisingly, there has been more than a 10-fold increase in the number of animals subjected to genetic manipulation experiments in the UK since 1990. Although comparable Canadian statistics are not publicly available at this time, a similar trend is clearly evident at Canadian research facilities. For example, Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children received a multi-million dollar grant from the federal government to support the “expansion of the mouse holding area of the animal facility from its present capacity of 20,000 animals to approximately 40,000 animals.” Similarly, the “animal resource center” shared between the Ontario Cancer Institute, University of Toronto, and the Toronto Amgen Institute reportedly houses 10,000 cages of mice, and produces up to 40 new strains of transgenic mice each year.

Genetic manipulation of animals has become a lucrative enterprise for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, and research industries.

http://www.cruelscience.ca/research-gm.htm