Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
'pre-clinical' is used to refer to animal studies done before human
clinical trials. The history of reproductive medicine in the first half
of the twentieth century is a particularly cogent example of some of
the intersections between agricultural practice and the emergence of
new human clinical treatments (Clarke, 1998). Similar developments
are occurring in the stem cell sciences.
There have been a number of significant advances achieved in
treating animal injuries and diseases with stem cell therapies. These
include treating arthritic dogs and cats with injections of stem cells
obtained from their own fat into afflicted joints (
http://www.
regeneus.com.au
). This treatment in dogs and cats has proven to be
so successful that there is now a human clinical trial currently
underway in Australia in humans (
http://www.regeneus.com.au
).
The development of particular forms of treatment is discussed in
more detail in Chapter 4.
Although strictly speaking not 'stem cell research', pet and
livestock cloning have also become increasingly possible. Suffice to
say that since the cloning of Dolly the sheep in the mid-1990s, many
other animals have been cloned by the same technique, with some
enterprising companies attempting to establish this as a viable
commercial operation. Genetic Savings & Clone was one such
company established in 2000 in the US, but it eventually folded after
realizing that pet cloning was not a commercially viable business
model (Associated Press, 2006). A company in South Korea
subsequently stepped into the breach, with one recent analysis
suggesting that a cloned domestic dog costs US$150 000 to produce
(Woestendiek, 2010).
While pet cloning is typically focused on replacing the irreplaceable
companion animal, livestock cloning takes on other dimensions.
There are several livestock cloning companies in the US that clone
prize-winning cattle and racehorses (examples include
http://www.
cyagra.com
,
http://www.viagen.com
and
http://www.transova.com
).
A long tradition of animal breeding in which the genetic component
of an animal often determines its economic value has produced a
natural market for cloning technologies. Highly valued cattle and
racehorses are cloned because they come from good stock. Although
concerns about the impact of meat from cloned animals entering
