Name the first transgenic cow. Which gen | Class 12 Biology Chapter Biotechnology and its Application, Biotechnology and its Application NCERT Solutions

Animals that have been permanently engineered by the gene insertion are known as transgenic animals and the foreign genes are added are known as transgenes. In 1981, Ralph Brinster and Richard Palmiter introduced first transgenic animal, by introducing a gene for rat growth hormone (GH) into fertilized eggs of mice.

First transgenic cow name was Rosie and is considered as different from normal cow. Transgenic cow that contains cDNA which codes for the antibacterial human iron- binding protein called lactoferrin have been produced. In this cow, human genes are transferred that are expressed in mammary tissues and then the milk contains nutritionally more balanced product, α- lactalbumin for human bodies than natural cow milk.