Pharms of the Future
The common chicken may prove to be the next big thing in pharmaceutical production.
Scientists have succeeded in producing transgenic hens that are able to synthesise therapeutic proteins. This may lead to a quicker, easier way of producing anticancer drugs.
Bioreactors (which use bacteria to produce proteins) are currently used, but are expensive and time-consuming so alternatives have been an area of research. Therapeutic proteins are already produced in other transgenic animals (animals containing genes from another species within their genome) such as goats, rabbits and cattle. Using chickens is appealing in that only a 5 month generation time is needed, meaning breeding to produce a large transgenic flock is much quicker than in animals such as goats. Chickens are also cheaper to maintain, and there is the possibility of producing proteins that are toxic to mammalian cells.
The process involves injecting the embryos of newly-laid eggs with viruses that contain the genetic sequences coding for one of two specific proteins (Wayman, 2007). The protein is incorporated into the DNA and results in a transgenic cockerel which is crossed with normal hens to produce transgenic chicks. These chicks go on to pass the proteins into their eggs where it can be collected from the egg white and ultimately used in human drugs.
Importantly, the proteins have been restricted to the oviduct, as the proteins may be harmful to other parts of the chicken. There still needs to be testing for effectiveness in humans, but it mightn’t be too long before eggs become our new drug supplier.
By Julia Smith
41409286
References
Jones, H., (2007) Chicken eggs make human drugs. Cosmos Online. http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/966
Lillico, S., Sherman A., McGrew, M., Robertson, C., Smith, J., Haslam, C., Barnard P., Radcliffe, P., Mitrophanous, K., Elliot E., and Sang H., (2007) Oviduct-specific expression of two therapeutic proteins in transgenic hens. PNAS, February 6, 104:6 p 1771-1776 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0610401104
Wayman, E., (2007) Barnyard Pharmaceuticals. Science Now. http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/116/4
Scientists have succeeded in producing transgenic hens that are able to synthesise therapeutic proteins. This may lead to a quicker, easier way of producing anticancer drugs.
Bioreactors (which use bacteria to produce proteins) are currently used, but are expensive and time-consuming so alternatives have been an area of research. Therapeutic proteins are already produced in other transgenic animals (animals containing genes from another species within their genome) such as goats, rabbits and cattle. Using chickens is appealing in that only a 5 month generation time is needed, meaning breeding to produce a large transgenic flock is much quicker than in animals such as goats. Chickens are also cheaper to maintain, and there is the possibility of producing proteins that are toxic to mammalian cells.
The process involves injecting the embryos of newly-laid eggs with viruses that contain the genetic sequences coding for one of two specific proteins (Wayman, 2007). The protein is incorporated into the DNA and results in a transgenic cockerel which is crossed with normal hens to produce transgenic chicks. These chicks go on to pass the proteins into their eggs where it can be collected from the egg white and ultimately used in human drugs.
Importantly, the proteins have been restricted to the oviduct, as the proteins may be harmful to other parts of the chicken. There still needs to be testing for effectiveness in humans, but it mightn’t be too long before eggs become our new drug supplier.
By Julia Smith
41409286
References
Jones, H., (2007) Chicken eggs make human drugs. Cosmos Online. http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/966
Lillico, S., Sherman A., McGrew, M., Robertson, C., Smith, J., Haslam, C., Barnard P., Radcliffe, P., Mitrophanous, K., Elliot E., and Sang H., (2007) Oviduct-specific expression of two therapeutic proteins in transgenic hens. PNAS, February 6, 104:6 p 1771-1776 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0610401104
Wayman, E., (2007) Barnyard Pharmaceuticals. Science Now. http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/116/4
