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• Katharina Mader

2007 Autumn Conference:
21.–22.9.2007, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Leibniz-Saal, Berlin

Last year, the first “zoopharming” product reached market approval: it is a recombinant human protein for medical use that is produced in the milk of transgenic goats. This is only one example of upcoming applications of livestock genetic engineering. Other applications include enhancement of productivity (e.g. higher milk or meat yields), alterations of product quality (e.g. leaner meat), disease resistance (e.g. against udder inflammations), and alterations of environmental variables (e.g. reduced levels of phosphate in the faeces). Also, transgenic livestock may be used for xenotransplantation where genetic engineering is hoped to improve the animals' suitability as organ donors for humans. Currently, livestock genetic engineering is becoming increasingly feasible: the techniques to remove, modify, replace or add genes are being refined, and an increasing amount of genomic information about farm animals can be utilised.

However, while genetic engineering in livestock opens a huge range of possibilities, it also raises safety and justification concerns: Does genetic engineering affect animal welfare? Is it safe and morally acceptable to apply genetic engineering to farm animals for the various purposes that are envisaged?

The symposium addresses livestock genetic engineering with an interdisciplinary panel of speakers. They will give talks on the state of the art of the technology and its applications, animal welfare considerations, and ethical aspects. The organisers gratefully acknowledge funding obtained from the programme of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research “Innovations- und Technikanalyse”, and from the Hermann und Elise geborene Heckmann Wentzel Stiftung.

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