Louis-Marie Houdebine and Jianglin Fan The study of biological functions of proteins and their possible roles in the pathogenesis of human diseases requires more and more relevant animal m- els. Although mice including genetically modified mice offer many possibilities, other non-murine species are absolutely required in some circumstances. Rabbit is one of these species, which has been widely used in biomedical studies. This animal is genetically and physiologically closer to humans including cardiov- cular system and metabolism characteristics. Rabbit is thus more appropriate than mice to study some diseases such as atherosclerosis and lipid metabolism. Because of its larger size, surgery manipulation, bleeding, and turn-over studies are much easier performed in rabbits than in mice. Furthermore, transgenic rabbits can be produced using microinjection and other methods such as lentiviral v- tors. Cloning in rabbits has been proved possible, even though still laborious and time-consuming. Hopefully, functional rabbit ES cell lines will be available in the coming years. Gene deletion or knock-out in rabbits will then become possible.

Louis-Marie Houdebine and Jianglin Fan The study of biological functions of proteins and their possible roles in the pathogenesis of human diseases requires more and more relevant animal m- els. Although mice including genetically modified mice offer many possibilities, other non-murine species are absolutely required in some circumstances. Rabbit is one of these species, which has been widely used in biomedical studies. This animal is genetically and physiologically closer to humans including cardiov- cular system and metabolism characteristics. Rabbit is thus more appropriate than mice to study some diseases such as atherosclerosis and lipid metabolism. Because of its larger size, surgery manipulation, bleeding, and turn-over studies are much easier performed in rabbits than in mice. Furthermore, transgenic rabbits can be produced using microinjection and other methods such as lentiviral v- tors. Cloning in rabbits has been proved possible, even though still laborious and time-consuming. Hopefully, functional rabbit ES cell lines will be available in the coming years. Gene deletion or knock-out in rabbits will then become possible.

During the past 20 years, transgenesis has become a popular technique and a crucial tool for molecular geneticists and biologists. Transgene expression is now better-controlled and even specifically inducible by exogenous factors. While these techniques have quite significantly transformed the experimental approaches taken by biologists, the applications are more limited than expected and concerns have arisen regarding biosafety as well as physiological, social, and philosophical issues.
Transgenic Animals: Generation and Use contains articles on the techniques used to generate transgenic animals and a section on the preparation of vectors for the optimally controlled expression of transgenes. It also examines the use of transgenic animals in the study of gene function and human diseases, the preparation of recombinant proteins and organs for pharmaceutical and medical use, and the improvement of genetic characteristics of farm animals. Finally, it discusses more recent problems generated by transgenic animals including conservation of transgenic lines, specific database patenting, biosafety, and bioethics.
Drawn from both academia and industry, the contributors to this monograph present in one concise volume all the relevant information on the different aspects of transgenesis. This book can be used as both a reference book and a textbook for specialized university courses and will be of interest to everyone involved in basic research in animal biology, molecular genetics, animal biotechnology, pharmaceutical science, and medicine.