With the aid of trailblazing biotechnology seven piglets have now seen the light of day with the prospect of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The goal is to glean knowledge about the disease with the aim of preventing and treating it in humans.

The seven pink and lively newborn, piglets, that saw the light of day on 28 August 2007 in the farrowing house at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Aarhus, look pretty normal. But there is a good reason for their birth being closely helped, monitored and followed by a whole group of scientists, veterinarians and members of the press from all over the country.

The pigs have been brought about with the aid of trailblazing research that makes it possible to put a gene for Alzheimer’s disease into pig cells and thus create so-called transgenic cells. The cells are cloned whereby exact copies are achieved, and these identical transgenic embryos are placed in a sow that acts as a surrogate mother. The result is a litter of pigs that are genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer’s disease, so they can be used to gain more knowledge about the disease with the aim of prevention and treatment of the ailment in humans.

- The technique is established and we know it works. We have practised using the new cloning technique, ”handmade cloning”, on normal pigs for a year now and at the same time we have prepared the transgenic cells, says scientist Peter M. Kragh from the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Aarhus. This has been carried out in close collaboration with the Institute of Human Genetics at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Aarhus, and the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.

- We don’t know for sure if the pigs will develop the disease, but we expect them to do so within the first year, says Peter M. Kragh about this previously unexplored area. A dominant gene, that is known to cause an early form of Alzheimer’s disease in humans, has been used.

- Pigs and humans are genetically quite similar and it is therefore likely that the pig can develop genetic diseases that are otherwise only seen in humans. The advantage of using pigs for research in human diseases is that the animals can be put down and examined at different stages of the development of the disease. And compared to mice, which are usually the research animals of choice, pigs have a size which makes it possible to use scanners and other hospital equipment that is used for humans, explains Peter M. Kragh.

The goal of the project is to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease earlier, i.e. before the clinical symptoms with behavioural changes show up, and to end up being able to find and test various treatments. The scientists will be setting up research designs that will enable them to test if the pigs show early symptoms, such as loss of smell or memory loss.

However, the research does not end there. On the contrary, it is the start of a new chapter in the study of diseases.

- This is the starting signal for the next epoch. We will be able to investigate many hereditary disease models, such as arteriosclerosis and psoriasis, says Peter M. Kragh.

Text and photo: Janne Hansen

For further information please contact:

Scientist Peter M. Kragh, Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Aarhus, telephone: (+45) 6146 9289, e-mail: PeterM.Kragh@agrsci.dk (regarding cloning)

Associate professor, dr. med. Arne Lund Jørgensen, Institute of Human Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Aarhus, telephone: (+45) 8942 1685/8942 1678, e-mail: alj@humgen.au.dk (regarding diseases and genetics)