ABSTRACT
Evaluating the risks of animal genome manipulation and defining containments for transgenic animals consist essentially in determining when to follow already known biosafety rules rather than to imagine quite new protection devices and practice. The biorisks generated by transgenesis in animals result from different and independent parameters: the animal species, the method used to transfer the foreign gene, the nature of the foreign gene and the fate of the transgenic animals. Transgenesis offers researchers an unprecedented possibility to induce mutations in living organisms and even to cross the species barrier. Indeed, natural gene transfer from one species to another is a rare event in nature. Transportation of transgenic animals therefore does not constitute a specific safety problem. The introduction of transgenic animals in new facilities may create unpredictable situations due to the presence of other animals. The experience of transgenic plant release in the environment will be a good model to define conditions of dissemination for transgenic animals.
