Colony caregivers must commit to feed and care for the altered animal after services have been provided.

The altered animals did indeed survive, long past the point at which normal mice would be expected to suc-cumb.

Genetically altered animals hold the promise of producing greater amounts of protein for less cost, but this is by no means a sure thing.

In addition, pharmaceutical researchers believe that genetically altered animals can be used to study human illnesses.

They might be real but altered animals, or not biological at all; in either case they might be part of a surveillance system.

And genetically altered animals might also produce organs that could be transplanted into humans with less chance of rejection than now exists.

The drug agency is now evaluating an application for the first genetically altered animal for use as food - salmon engineered to grow quickly.

Production of drugs and other valuable materials by these processes, sometimes called "molecular farming," has long been envisioned for such altered animals.

But other "non-naturally occurring manufactures or composition of matter," including genetically altered animals, were clearly covered, it said.

Not only genetically altered animals can be patented, it said, but also unusual ones that have been conventionally bred.