Transgenic animals are organisms whose genome has been deliberately altered by introducing foreign DNA (a transgene) using recombinant DNA technology. The transgene integrates into the animal's genome and can be passed to offspring. NCERT Class 12 Biology Chapter 10, page 184) lists specific purposes: studying normal physiology and development, studying disease, producing biological products, vaccine safety testing, and chemical safety (toxicity) testing.
Why NEET tests this: Questions target the purpose-to-example mapping. Aspirants confuse which transgenic animal model serves which purpose — particularly mixing up biological product synthesis (e.g., alpha-1-antitrypsin from transgenic sheep Rosie, alpha-lactalbumin from transgenic cow) with disease model creation (e.g., transgenic mice for cancer studies).
Key facts for recall:
Biopiracy is the exploitation of biological resources or traditional knowledge of developing nations by developed nations without proper authorization or compensatory payment. India's examples: turmeric patent (wound healing — revoked after challenge by CSIR), neem patent (antifungal properties — revoked at European Patent Office), basmati rice patent (RiceTec Inc. — partially revoked).
Biosafety and the ethical framework: NCERT raises a broader ethical concern behind biopiracy: manipulating living organisms cannot go on without regulation, since ethical standards are needed to judge whether an activity helps or harms living organisms, and genetic modification can have unpredictable results once such organisms are introduced into an ecosystem. Because of this uncertainty, the Indian Government set up regulatory bodies such as GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee), which decides on the validity of GM research and the safety of releasing GM-organisms for public use (NCERT Class 12 Biology, Chapter 10, page 184).
Watch-out: NEET stems may frame biopiracy as "theft of biodiversity" or "unauthorized commercial exploitation" — both are valid phrasings. The legal counter-framework is India's Biological Diversity Act (2002) and the Patent Amendment Act (2005, Section 3(p) — plants/animals not patentable).
Select an option to see the explanation. Wrong answers show why your choice was tempting — and name the exact trap it exploits.
As recorded in NCERT, which transgenic animal was the first to produce milk enriched with a human NUTRITIONAL protein — alpha-lactalbumin, at 2.4 grams per litre?
Answer: D. Rosie was the first transgenic cow to produce human protein-enriched milk containing alpha-lactalbumin at 2.4 g/L (NCERT Class 12 Biology Chapter 10, page 184).
Why A is wrong: Tracy is a transgenic sheep that produced alpha-1-antitrypsin in her milk — a therapeutic protein, not a nutritional protein-enriched milk example.
Why B is wrong: Transgenic mice with growth hormone are used in physiology studies, not for human protein-enriched milk production.
Why C is wrong: Transgenic goats with antithrombin are a biological product example but are not the NCERT-cited first case of protein-enriched milk.
Transgenic mice are primarily developed as models for studying which group of diseases?
Answer: C. C is correct. NCERT names transgenic models being developed for cancer, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer's disease (NCERT Class 12 Biology Chapter 10, pages 184–185).
Why A is wrong: These are infectious diseases studied through epidemiology and microbiology — not the primary targets of transgenic mouse models as listed in NCERT.
Why B is wrong: These are endocrine disorders not mentioned as targets for transgenic mouse models in the NCERT text.
Why D is wrong: These are hereditary blood disorders; while genetic, NCERT does not list them as the primary transgenic mouse disease model examples.
The Indian government challenged and got revoked the patent on turmeric for wound healing. This is an example of:
Answer: A. The turmeric patent case is the classic NCERT example of biopiracy — a US patent on turmeric's wound-healing properties (traditional Indian knowledge) was challenged by CSIR and revoked (NCERT Class 12 Biology Chapter 10, page 185).
Why B is wrong: Biofortification is breeding crops for enhanced nutrient content (e.g., golden rice) — unrelated to patent disputes over traditional knowledge.
Why C is wrong: While patents are involved, the term 'biopatent' is not the NCERT-defined concept being tested. The issue is unauthorized exploitation of traditional knowledge, which is biopiracy.
Why D is wrong: Bioethics deals with moral questions in biological research (e.g., human cloning, gene therapy consent) — not the exploitation of biodiversity or traditional knowledge.
Which of the following is NOT a stated purpose of producing transgenic animals as per NCERT?
Answer: D. NCERT Chapter 12 lists five purposes for transgenic animals: (1) normal physiology/development, (2) study of disease, (3) biological products, (4) vaccine safety testing, (5) chemical safety testing. Increasing crop yield is a goal of GM plants, not transgenic animals.
Why A is wrong: Vaccine safety testing is explicitly listed as one of the five purposes of transgenic animals in NCERT.
Why B is wrong: Study of disease (e.g., transgenic mice as cancer models) is explicitly listed in NCERT.
Why C is wrong: Obtaining useful biological products (e.g., alpha-1-antitrypsin from sheep milk) is explicitly listed in NCERT.
Alpha-1-antitrypsin is a protein used to treat which condition, and is obtained from which transgenic animal?
Answer: A. Alpha-1-antitrypsin treats emphysema (a lung disorder caused by deficiency of this protein). It is produced in the milk of transgenic sheep (NCERT Class 12 Biology Chapter 10, page 184).
Why B is wrong: Diabetes is treated with recombinant insulin from E. coli, not from a transgenic cow. Alpha-1-antitrypsin is for emphysema.
Why C is wrong: Antithrombin (not alpha-1-antitrypsin) is the anticoagulant protein from transgenic goats. Haemophilia treatment involves clotting factors, not alpha-1-antitrypsin.
Why D is wrong: Transgenic mice are disease models, not production systems for therapeutic proteins at commercial scale.
The neem tree patent revoked at the European Patent Office involved claims over which property?
Answer: C. The neem patent case involved a US company (W.R. Grace) and USDA patenting a method for using neem's antifungal properties. India challenged this at the EPO on grounds of prior art (traditional knowledge) and the patent was revoked (NCERT Class 12 Biology Chapter 10).
Why A is wrong: The patent dispute concerned neem's antifungal use, not anticancer properties. This is a common confusion between neem's multiple traditional uses.
Why B is wrong: Antipyretic use of neem was not the subject of the EPO patent challenge. The contested claim was specifically about antifungal formulations.
Why D is wrong: Neem-based insecticidal properties are traditional knowledge but the EPO case specifically involved the antifungal patent. Additionally, Bt crops use bacterial Cry genes, not neem.
India's legislative response to biopiracy includes which of the following Acts?
Answer: B. India's primary legislative instruments against biopiracy are the Biological Diversity Act (2002) which regulates access to biological resources, and the Patent Amendment Act (2005, Section 3(p)) which excludes plants and animals from patentability (NCERT Class 12 Biology Chapter 10).
Why A is wrong: These Acts deal with wildlife conservation and forest protection, not with intellectual property rights over biological resources or traditional knowledge.
Why C is wrong: While the Environment Protection Act and NBA exist, the specific legislative response to biopiracy framed in NCERT is the Biological Diversity Act (2002) paired with the Patent Amendment Act (2005).
Why D is wrong: The Indian Patents Act 1970 predates the biopiracy era and the Seeds Act concerns seed quality standards — neither is the NCERT-cited legislative response.
A researcher introduces a human gene into a mouse embryo to study the regulation of that gene during development. The resulting transgenic mouse will help understand:
(i) Normal physiology and development
(ii) Study of disease
(iii) Vaccine safety testing
Select the correct answer:
Answer: B. The stem specifies "to study the regulation of that gene during development" — this maps directly and exclusively to purpose (i): normal physiology and development. Disease models require disease-specific gene alterations, and vaccine safety testing is a separate application (NCERT Class 12 Biology Chapter 10, pages 183–184).
Why A is wrong: The question explicitly states the purpose is to study gene regulation during development, not disease. Disease models would require disease-causing or disease-associated gene constructs.
Why C is wrong: While transgenic mice CAN serve multiple purposes, the stem's stated goal ('regulation during development') restricts this to purpose (i) only. Adding (ii) requires a disease-associated gene.
Why D is wrong: All three purposes exist for transgenic animals in general, but the stem defines a single specific application (developmental gene regulation), which maps only to (i).
Get a structured 30-day study plan and a complete formula booklet — delivered to your inbox instantly.
Given
Four pairs linking transgenic animals or biopiracy cases with their stated purpose.
Required
Identify the correctly matched pair.
Concept
NCERT Chapter 12 lists specific transgenic animal examples with defined purposes. Each example maps to exactly one primary purpose category.
Formula
No formula — this is a recall-matching problem. The knowledge framework is:• Rosie (cow) → protein-enriched milk (alpha-lactalbumin)• Transgenic mice → disease models• Tracy (sheep) → alpha-1-antitrypsin (biological product for emphysema)• Turmeric patent → biopiracy example
Substitution
Check each option:• A: Rosie is for protein-enriched milk, NOT a disease model → incorrect• B: Mice are disease models, NOT biological product factories → incorrect• C: Tracy produces alpha-1-antitrypsin, used to treat emphysema → correct match• D: Turmeric patent is biopiracy, NOT biofortification → incorrect
Calculation
Direct matching — no arithmetic required.
Final answer
Option C — Tracy (transgenic sheep) correctly matches with alpha-1-antitrypsin production for emphysema treatment.
Common trap
Confusing Rosie (cow, nutritional protein-enriched milk) with Tracy (sheep, therapeutic protein alpha-1-antitrypsin). Both involve proteins in milk, but the animal, protein identity, and purpose category differ. Also: confusing biopiracy with biofortification (the latter is nutrient enhancement of crops).
Similar NEET-style question
"Which transgenic animal was developed to produce human alpha-lactalbumin in its milk?"
(Answer: Rosie the cow — tests the reciprocal mapping.)
---
Transgenic mice (model for human disease), goats (alpha-1-antitrypsin), cows (rosie — human α-lactalbumin in milk). Biopiracy: unauthorised commercial exploitation (turmeric, neem, basmati cases). Patent system; GMOs regulated by GEAC in India.
-- NCERT Class 12 Biology, Chapter 10, p. 184More in Biotechnology and its Applications: 7 exam traps and mistakes · 1 question pattern from its other lessons.
No question in our NEET 2020–2025 set targets this topic directly.
All 40 past-paper questions from Biotechnology and its Applications →
Page numbers are the ones printed in the current NCERT textbook (2023 rationalised edition), unless marked pre-2023. The books are free at ncert.nic.in.
Test yourself on this topic with real past-paper questions:
Practice this topic →