ABSTRACT
The use of biolistic to transform animal cells was delayed compared to plant cells by the necessity to reset more adapted conditions after the original protocol. Biolistic aims at both transient gene expression and stable transformation. The process consists in bombarding, at high velocity, DNA-coated microprojectiles into the nuclear genome of living cells. A hand-held version of the static instrument has been developed by the group of Sanford to fire cloned DNA constructs directly into tissues of intact animals. It was shown that keeping the DNA precipitate hydrated boosts considerably the yield of transformation, but this requires a specific modification of the archetypic instrument. Biolistic can also be viewed as a means to construct transgenic animals, by bombarding either germ line cell precursors or mature gametes. More is expected of the development of genetic immunization by biolistic in medical and veterinarian gene therapy.
