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New pigs - more meat from science
WASHINGTON (UPI) _ Scientists reported Thursday they have genetically
engineered pigs to produce large amounts of a mouse protein in their milk, a
step toward creating ``bioreactor'' farm animals that make medicines for
people.
The ``transgenic swine'' probably would not be practical, however, as living
drug factories because pigs are too hard to milk, researchers said.
But the pigs indicate a modified version of the gene used in the pigs could
be spliced into the genes of cows or goats to make them produce milk containing
large amounts of drugs that are currently expensive or hard to produce, they
said.
``In the big scheme of things, this is another step in our efforts to
utilize farm animals to meet human needs,'' said Robert Wall, a scientist at
the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville,
Md.
``What we've done is demonstrate the feasibility in a model system,'' said
Wall, who described the work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
Andrew Kimbrell of the Foundation on Economic Trends, a vocal opponent of
genetic engineering, criticized the research.
``Is there any limit to man's right to put the genetic material of one
species into another? Can we mix and match the genetic mackup of the entire
living kingdom for profit or utility? We have not had this debate,'' he said.
``The danger here is ... if we continue on this vein we may destroy nature
as we currently know it. We will destroy the integrity of the gene pool,'' he
said, charging that some of the experiments have resulted in deformed animals.
Scientists have been trying to find ways to produce a variety of drugs
through genetic engineering techniques to make the medicine less expensive and
in quantities they could study. Examples include blood- clotting factors needed
by hemophiliacs and tissue plasminogen activator or TPA, which is used to treat
heart attacks.
Researchers already are using genetically engineered bacteria to produce
substances found in very low levels in the human body in amounts large enough
to be used as medicine. But not all substances can be produced that way, Wall
said.
Scottish scientists had previously created genetically engineered sheep that
produced milk containing relatively low levels of a clotting factor and another
protein called alpha antitrypsin, which prevents clotting.
In the new research, scientists inserted a gene that carries codes for the
production of a protein in mouse milk, called whey acidic protein or WAP, into
pig eggs and placed the fertilized eggs into female pigs, which carried them to
term.
Female pigs born from the genetically engineered eggs and female offspring
of male pigs born from genetically engineered eggs produced amounts of WAP in
their milk at levels averaging 1,000 times higher than the Scottish sheep
produced, Wall said. ``That's the largest amount produced in farm animals to
date,'' Wall said.
Based on the findings, the researchers estimated a single pig genetically
engineered to produce blood-clotting Factor 9 could produce enough of the
substance to satisfy the needs of every hemophiliac in the world.
The researchers chose pigs because they mature relatively quickly and give
birth in litters, speeding the research. But the pigs would not be practical in
the long run because ``milking a pig is somewhat of a challenge,'' Wall said.
Instead, scientists eventually may splice key parts of the WAP gene with a
gene carrying instructions for a medicinal protein, such as TPA, and insert
that into goat or cow embryos, he said.
``This study should be encouraging to those who envision using the mammary
gland as a bioreactor for the production of foreign proteins,'' the researchers
wrote.
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