Or what if the transgenic animals somehow got into the human food chain?

ECONOMIST: REPORTS

Creating transgenic animals that contain the GFP gene has become increasingly important.

FORBES: Research

Also sitting pretty is Nexia, particularly since it began to focus on the use of transgenic animals to make medicines that can protect against nerve agents.

ECONOMIST: REPORTS

One difficulty with introducing toxins into transgenic animals such as mice is that they may not survive the toxins, in which case they can't produce the antibodies.

FORBES: Taking Aim At Anthrax

Unlike transgenic animals, such plants are designed to live in the open, where they may crossbreed with wild relatives and products made with them will end up on the dinner table.

ECONOMIST: In defence of the demon seed

The uncertainty over regulatory and public reactions is one of the reasons why, over the past four years, at least two dozen firms working to create drugs from transgenic animals have gone bust.

ECONOMIST: REPORTS

Another concern, raised by lobby groups such as Greenpeace and the Union of Concerned Scientists, is that transgenic animals might escape into the wild and contaminate the gene pool, triggering all kinds of unintended consequences.

ECONOMIST: REPORTS

Since transgenic goats, for example, are living factories whose worth depends on their producing as much milk as possible, every measure is taken to keep them happy, healthy, well fed and sequestered from non-transgenic animals.

ECONOMIST: REPORTS