How do i explain to someone who does not know biology how transgenic animals are made?Eg transgenic zebra fish

Answer 1

Found this explanation regarding mice -- seems pretty simple, if the person at least knows what DNA is!

"A transgenic mouse (or any other species) is simply an organism that has had DNA introduced into one or more of its cells artificially. This is commonly done in one of two ways. DNA can be integrated in a random fashion by injecting it into the pronucleus of a fertilized ovum. In this case, the DNA can integrate anywhere in the genome, and multiple copies often integrate in a head-to-tail fashion. Targeted insertion, the other common method of producing transgenic animals, is accomplished by introducing the DNA into embryonic stem (ES) cells and selecting for cells in which the DNA has undergone homologous recombination with matching genomic sequences."

You may need to simply the vocabulary a bit at the end there, or eliminate the methodology completely, but other than that, it seems pretty straightforward.

Answer 2

Try wikipedia, their article are relatively simple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenic