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Researchers have developed genetically modified chickens that can lay eggs containing proteins used to fight arthritis and certain cancers.
They hope that this discovery will someday lead to the manufacture of a life-saving drug at a cost.
At first, proteins will be used in research, but laboratory tests have already shown that they work at least as well as equivalent drugs.
This research was developed by the researcher According to researcher Lissa Herron of Roslin Technologies, chickens do not suffer and are more "pampered" than farm animals.
"They live They are fed, hydrated and cared for daily by highly qualified technicians, they lead a very comfortable life."
"For the chicken one, it's like putting a normal egg. Does not affect its health, just continue what they already do, lay normally. "
Scientists have already shown that animals such as goats, rabbits and genetically modified chickens can be used to produce proteins with properties
But the researchers say that the new approach is more efficient, gives better results and is more profitable than previous attempts.
"Production from chicken eggs can cost 10 to 100 times less than factories, so I think we will reach a value at least 10 times lower than the total manufacturing cost," he said. Mr. Herron.
The largest savings come from the fact that poultry houses are much cheaper to build and operate than
Many diseases are caused by the fact that our bodies do not naturally produce enough of a certain substance chemical or certain proteins. Health problems of this type can be controlled with the help of drugs containing the missing protein.
Herron and his colleagues have managed to reduce these costs by inserting a human gene into the DNA part of the hens responsible for the egg white.
These drugs are synthetically produced by pharmaceutical companies and can be very expensive to manufacture. After breaking the eggs, the scientists leave the yellow aside, it is clear that the treasure is found: large amounts of "These proteins are too expensive to produce," says Herron, "because you can not synthesize them in a chemistry laboratory. "
"You need a living system to manufacture them because proteins are very large and very complex molecules and they need all the machinery of a cell to produce them. correctly. "
Up to now, chickens have been genetically engineered to produce two types of proteins essential to the immune system.
One of them is interferon alpha 2a, which has potent antiviral and anticancer effects. The other is the CSF macrophage, which is being developed as a stimulating therapy for the regeneration of damaged tissue.
Three eggs are enough to produce a dose of the drug and hens can lay up to 300 eggs a year. The researchers believe that if they have enough chickens, they will be able to produce the drug on a commercial scale.
The development of drugs for human health, with all the necessary regulatory procedures, will take between 10 and 20 years. the researchers hope to use chickens to develop drugs for animals.
This includes drugs that stimulate the immune system of farm animals as an alternative to antibiotics, which would reduce the risk of developing new strains of treatment-resistant superbugs. . According to Herron, there is potential for using the healing properties of the CSF macrophage to treat pets.
"For example, we can use it to regenerate the liver or kidneys of a damaged pet."
"We are not yet producing drugs for humans, but this study shows that chickens are commercially viable to produce adequate proteins for studies of new drugs and other applications in biotechnology, "said Professor Helen Sang of the Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh
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