Tracy (1990 – 1997) was a
transgenically modified sheep created by scientists at Scotland's
Roslin Institute
The Roslin Institute is an animal sciences research institute at Easter Bush, Midlothian, Scotland, part of the University of Edinburgh, and is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
It is best known for creat ...
to produce the human protein
alpha 1-antitrypsin, a substance regarded in the 1990s as a potential pharmaceutical for the treatments of
cystic fibrosis and
emphysema. Notably, she is the first transgenic farm mammal ever created.
Alpha 1-antitrypsin comprised 50% of the total protein in Tracy's milk, a remarkably high level maintained after lactation. Similar levels were detected in the milk produced by her granddaughters. A deficiency in this protein in humans can produce lung diseases, and its artificial creation was thought to be a potential success in the diseases' treatment.
Clinical trials for the engineered protein in 1998 revealed that it developed breathing problems in patients, and research for the milk as a remedy for the diseases has not continued since then.
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See also
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Dolly (sheep)
Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003) was a female Finnish Dorset sheep and the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell. She was cloned by associates of the Roslin Institute in Scotland, using the process of nuclear transfer from a ...
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Pharming (genetics)
Pharming, a portmanteau of "farming" and "pharmaceutical", refers to the use of genetic engineering to insert genes that code for useful pharmaceuticals into host animals or plants that would otherwise not express those genes, thus creating a gen ...
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Genetically modified organisms
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...
References
Cloned sheep
1990 animal births
1997 animal deaths
Individual animals in the United Kingdom