All too often, the field of animal biotechnology is viewed as more weird than wonderful. To counter such negative reactions and provide the public with a basic understanding of the nature and potential of animal biotechnology, UC Davis animal scientists have prepared a new educational video.

The 30-minute video, entitled "Animal Biotechnology," will premiere at 8 p.m. Aug. 5 on UCTV. It also can be viewed via streaming video on the UC Davis Animal Biotechnology Web site at: http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/animalbiotech.

The video, narrated and co-authored by Cooperative Extension Specialist Alison Van Eenennaam and animal biology graduate student William Pohlmeier, begins with a brief historical description of the development of various animal biotechnologies.

"The public experience with animal biotechnology often starts and ends with Dolly the sheep, the first mammal ever cloned from an adult cell," Van Eenennaam said. "The hype that surrounded Dolly rapidly became entangled with the debate over human cloning, and the ensuing discussion failed to elaborate on, or differentiate between, the broad range of technologies encompassed by the ill-defined term 'animal biotechnology.'

"We hope that this new video will address this knowledge deficit and provide the general public with the information they need to understand and evaluate these technologies," Van Eenennaam said.

The video places the most controversial animal biotechnologies -- cloning and genetic engineering -- within a historical framework. It also highlights biomedical and agricultural applications of animal biotechnology and discusses some of the science-based and ethical concerns engendered by certain biotech applications.

It includes excerpts from interviews with leading academic and industry scientists conducted at the 2007 UC Davis Transgenic Animal Conference. The script and visuals underwent anonymous scientific peer-review prior to release.

The video was designed for college and high school students, as well as members of the general public. It was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Research Initiative. DVD copies of the video can be obtained by contacting Van Eenennaam at biotech@asmail.ucdavis.edu.