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Sooam's work with miniature pigs offers great research and pharmaceutical applications. Because a miniature pig's organs are similar to those of a human in size and physiology, miniature pigs have proven to be a reliable model for studying pathophysiology of diseases in humans. Sooam currently focuses on type 1 & 2 diabetes mellitus disease models.
Furthermore, xenotransplantation, which means transplantation of living cells, tissues, or organs from one species to another, could alleviate the problem of world-wide shortage of organs for clinical implantations and save thousands of patients waiting for donated organs. Researchers at Sooam are currently working on transgenic technology that can help deliver genetically altered miniature pigs, from which organs can be transferred to a human by tricking the human patient's immune system into accepting them as a part of its own body.
To date, Sooam has delivered 10 normal cloned pigs, 32 type 2 diabetes transgenic disease model pigs, and 16 xenotransplantation transgenic disease model pigs.
In August, 2009 Sooam signed an agreement with Gyeonggi Province for collaborative research on delivery of transgenic miniature pigs through somatic cell nuclear transfer. Also, in August, 2011 Sooam signed an agreement with the Rural Development Administration of Korea for a national R&D project titled "Delivery of Transgenic Pig Model for Metabolic Disease and Validation of its Disease Expression." |
(Top) Transgenic type 2 diabetes disease models.
Four transgenic pigs from the same surrogate mother. |
Publications
I.H. Hong, Y.W. Jeong, T. Shin, S.H. Hyun, K.K. Park, M.R. Ki, S.Y. Han, S.I. Park, J.H. Lee, E.M. Lee, A.Y. Kim, S.Y. You, and W.S. Hwang. Morphological abnormalities, impaired fetal development and decrease in myostatin expression following somatic cell nuclear transfer in dogs. Molecular Reproduction & Development 78 (2010): 337-346
S.K., J.H. Kim, E. Lee, Y.W. Jeong, M.S. Hossein, S.M. Park, S.W. Park, J.Y. Lee, Y.I. Jeong, H.S. Kim, Y.W. Kim, S.H. Hyun, and W.S. Hwang. Establishment and Characterization of Embryonic Stem-Like Cells from Porcine Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Blastocysts. Zygote 18 (2010): 93-101
H.S. Kim, Y.I. Jeong, J.Y. Lee, Y.W. Jeong, M.S. Hossein, S.H. Hyun, and W.S. Hwang. Effects of Recombinant Relaxin on In Vitro Maturation of Porcine Oocytes. The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 72 (2010): 333-337
M. Kim, H. Seo, Y. Choi, W.S. Hwang, C.K. Lee, and H. Ka. Aberrant Expression of Retinol-Binding Protein, Osteopontin and Fibroblast Growth Factor 7 in the Porcine Uterine Endometrium of Pregnant Recipients Carrying Embryos Produced by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. Animal Reproduction Science 112 (2009): 172-181
J. Choi, S.M. Park, E. Lee, J.H. Kim, Y.I. Jeong, J.Y. Lee, S.W. Park, H.S. Kim, M.S. Hossein, Y.W. Jeong, S. Kim, S.H. Hyun, and W.S. Hwang. Anti-apoptotic Effect of Melatonin on Preimplantation Development of Porcine Parthenogenetic Embryos. Molecular Reproduction and Development 75 (2008): 1127-1135
E. Lee, J.H. Kim, S.M. Park, Y.I. Jeong, J.Y. Lee, S.W. Park, J. Choi, H.S. Kim, Y.W. Jeong, S. Kim, S.H. Hyun, and W.S. Hwang. The Analysis of Chromatin Remodeling and the Staining for DNA Methylation and Histone Acetylation Do Not Provide Definitive Indicators of the Developmental Ability of Inter-species Cloned Embryos. Animal Reproduction Science 105 (2008): 438-450
Y.W. Jeong, M.S. Hossein, D.P. Bhandari, Y.W. Kim, J.H. Kim, S.W. Park, E. Lee, S.M. Park, Y.I. Jeong, J.Y. Lee, S. Kim, and W.S. Hwang. Effects of Insulin-Transferrin-Selenium in Defined and Porcine Follicular Fluid Supplemented IVM Media on Porcine IVF and SCNT Embryo Production. Animal Reproduction Science 106 (2008): 13-24
E. Lee, Y.I. Jeong, S.M. Park, J.Y. Lee, J.H. Kim, S.W. Park, M.S. Hossein, Y.W. Jeong, S. Kim, S.H. Hyun, and W.S. Hwang. Beneficial Effects of Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor on In Vitro Maturation of Porcine Oocytes. Reproduction 134 (2007): 405-414