Neurodegenerative diseases

Transgenic animals have come a long way in the research in the medical field to be a part of the research of neurodegenerative diseases. That's right, who would have thought that a small mouse, a commonly unappreciated rodent, would play such a large role to the human species?

Surprisingly, it's true. Transgenic mice may just be the hero for many patients with neurodegenerative diseases. In a previous post, Beginning the Research, I found an article, that explained how transgenic mice are used to model diseases for scientists and researchers to better understand the disease. According to this article, the triple transgenic mice model is the reason we are one big step closer to finding the cure for Alzheimer's Disease. I'm sure you all agree with me that this is great news because we know how dangerous Alzheimer's can be.

This article sparked my interest and gave me the idea to write my paper on transgenic mice and neurodegenerative diseases.

After doing some more research I stumbled upon two great scholarly sources that I intend to use in my paper.

A Decade of Tau Transgenic Animal Models and Beyond talks about a type of transgenic animal models, tau, and their role in Alzheimer's disease. Tau is a microtubule-assisted protein that is present in neurons. Researchers are experimenting with tau transgenic mice models because they believe that tau proteins triggers the disintegration of microtubules. Tau transgenic animal models identify disease modifiers, express genes and proteins, and develop new therapeutic strategies.

Transgenic animal models of neurodegenerative diseases and their application to treatment development is an article on neurodegenerative diseases in general instead of just Alzheimer's. Instead of focusing on tau transgenic animal models like the other article, this one focuses on the misfolded proteins. Many neurodegenerative diseases, not just Alzheimer's, are caused by aggregate proteins, proteins that are accumulated in areas such as the plasma membrane, intercellular and extracellular spaces. In this research, they use biological mouse models to better understand the pathogenesis and to discover and test new treatments. Each model targets a selective factor and mimic a specific condition of the researched disease.

Both articles remind me of how advanced technology is today. It amazes me how mice can be used to represent not just a disease as a whole, but specific characteristics of the diseases, such as tau and misfolded proteins, to learn how that one thing affects the complex disease. I will be using both articles in my research to show how transgenic animals are significant in the medical world. Centuries and decades ago, people would not have guessed the large role that these little creatures could play.

Food Inc.

I just recently watched Food Inc., a film documenting the food industry, more specifically, farm animals. Before I watched this film, I was already aware of what really goes on in these industries. I have read many articles, heard many stories, and watched many short films on the secrets of where our food really comes from. Every time I learn more, it convinces me a little more to become a Pescetarian, and maybe I will even go all the way and become vegan someday. Becoming a Pescetarian would not be such a bad idea because of its many health benefits.

Aside from leaning more towards excluding meat from my diet, I also wondered about the science behind the production of these animals. How did these farmers decide which animal they would mass produce? How did they get these animals to be relatively the same size? They have to find some way to produce mass amounts of animals that are big without having to rob a bank. After dedicating a second or two to think about the answer, I assembled the puzzle pieces together and realized that it correlates to my topic of genetically modified animals.

Yes, genetically modified animals not only contribute to researching medicine and diseases, but they also play a role in the food industry. This just gives you and idea of how broad the topic of transgenic animals is. Ranging from medicine to food, these animals play a large role in our lives. And although my research is on the role of genetically modified animals in medicine, I wanted to give you all an idea of another approach that could have been taken while still researching about transgenic animals. They aren't all meant to be lab animals.

Transgenic Animals

I want to dedicate this post to talk more about genetically modified animals and share some interesting facts that I found while researching.

Now, you would think most of these animals to be super animals that have some outrageous power that makes them a mix between two or maybe even several animals. You actually aren't that far off from reality! Believe it or not, with today's technology, there are some weird and crazy looking animals out there.

Take a look at these animals. Can you guess which ones are real and which ones are fake? 

Glow-in-the Dark Cats? 

Web-Spinning Goats?

Dog + Lion = Dolion

Cat + Lemur = Lemurat

Umbuku Lizard

Of course not all of these animals are real. But you'd be surprised to finds out which ones actually do exist. Only two of these five bizarre animals are real; the cats and goats. 

Yes, there are actual cats that glow in the dark. They glow-in-the-dark because a glow-in-the-dark gene is inserted into their genomes with flourescence. And the web-spinning goat? The goat does not actually spin webs like spiders do. Their genetically modified milk is what can be used to produce web-like material. 

As you can see, animals are genetically modified to possess odd characteristics and abilities. Some are unpredictable and you wouldn't even think they are real.