Learning objectives
The course will allow the acquisition of competences on:
Techniques for farm animal transgenesis and cloning. Biomedical applications: animals as bioreactors, animals as model for human diseases. Functional foods and animal biotechnology. Agricultural applications: modification of milk and meat composition; improvement of farm animal growth curve and resistance to diseases. Animal transgenesis and reproduction. Cloned and transgenic animals welfare. Genetically modified animals and food production.
Regenerative medicine:
-Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC): in-vivo and in-vitro biology. Application in veterinary medicine
-Induced pluripotent cells (IPS): biology and therapeutic potential
-Laboratory practice: isolation and characterization of MSC from adipose tissue.
Course unit content
The course will be addressed to two main area of cell/animal manipulation and their implications in veterinary medicine.
The main objective of the course is the acquisition of a solid knowledge about transgenesis and cloning of farm animal. With this aim the different approaches to animal genome modification will be evaluated both from the methodological and the scientific point of view. Finally, biomedical and agricultural applications of transgenic and cloned livestock, animal welfare, and food safety and quality issues will be addressed.
In the second part of the course, the basic principles of regenerative medicine and its application in veterinary medicine will be described. In particular, the biological characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells and of induced pluripotent cells will be focussed. Furthermore, examples of their applications in veterinary medicine will be illustrated with a critical discussion of the clinical outcomes.
Bibliography
The students will be given articles and the slides used by the teacher.
