Impacts of genetically modified animals on the ecosystem and human activities

The genetic modification of animals to obtain transgenic animals started in 1980. The first transgenic animals were mice, which are still the most frequently used transgenic species. About 20 transgenic species have been obtained and they are more or less currently used. Various methods are being implemented to transfer foreign genes to the different species. Transgenic animals are mostly used for basic research to study gene and biological functions. Transgenic animals may also be relevant models to study human and animal diseases as well as to test new medicaments. Transgenics may also be the source of organs and cells for humans as well as of medicaments. The impact of transgenesis to improve animals for food and feed production is still non-existent but is expected to become a reality in the coming months. A few transgenic pets have been obtained and commercialized. The use of transgenic animals raises some welfare problems and specific regulation has been defined by the EU. Transgenesis in animals already has an impact on human activities and on the perception of living organisms by humans. The available techniques make the generation of transgenic humans plausible. This has not been achieved or proposed so far. The impact of transgenesis in humans might be huge. Theoretical and ethical discussions on this topic are underway.