Benefits of creating transgenic animals 

1. Study of normal physiology and development: 

• Useful to study gene regulation, their effect on the normal functions of the body and its development 
• For example, study of complex growth factors like insulin-like growth factors 

2. Study of disease: 

• Study of genes which are responsible for diseases in human and their treatment. 
• Transgenic models have been developed for many human diseases like cancer, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease. 

3. Biological products: 

• Useful biological products can be produced by introducing into transgenic animals the portion of DNA (or genes) which codes for a particular product. 
• For example, human protein(a- 1-antitrypsin) is used to treat emphysema. 
• In 1997, the first transgenic cow , Rosie produced human protein- enriched milk (2.4g/L). 
• The milk contained the human alpha-lactalbumin and was more nutritionally balanced for human babies than natural cow milk.

4. Vaccine safety: 

• Transgenic mice are developed to test safety of vaccines before being used on humans. Eg: polio vaccine 

5. Chemical safety testing: 

• Transgenic animals are made to carry genes which make them more sensitive to the toxic substances than nontransgenic animals.