Animal Pharm Feature
BIO's video champions the benefits of biotechnology in animal health
Salina Christmas
31 January 2008
A healthier animal makes healthier food, and a healthy pet makes a happy owner. Two good reasons why biotechnology should benefit consumers, according to a video by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).
Washington-based BIO is the world's largest biotechnology organization. It provides advocacy, business development and communications services for more than 1,150 members worldwide that are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology technologies.
The 2005 video, “Animals and Medicine”, highlights the many advances in biotechnology that benefit both companion animals and livestock.
| "Animals and Medicine" View the video (22 minutes) Visit BIO's website This video by BIO highlights the many advances in biotechnology that benefit companion animals and livestock |
Featuring Dr Barbara Glenn, Director, Animal Biotechnology Department, BIO, and Frankie Tull, President, National Association for Biomedical Research, the video explains the role of biotechnology in animal health in the development of biotech-derived vaccines, medicines, and diagnostic tests for the mapping of animal genomes.
According to the video, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved over 100 biotech-derived vaccines and biologics to improve livestock and companion animal health. It also predicts that the market for biotech-derived animal health products is to exceed $5.1 billion in 2006.
Research involving animals has been critical to understanding the fundamental processes of human biology that are so integral to modern medicine, BIO says. Virtually every major medical advance of the last century has depended upon research with animals.
Dr Glenn also discusses the advent of “biotechnology animals”, which could potentially lead to improved livestock breeds and “hypoallergenic animals” for pets.
“Biotech animals are the same as conventional animals – they eat, they drink and they behave identically and we know that they are healthy,” she says.
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