[extropy-chat] Genetically altered piglets will produce a protein helpful in fighting cancer

[Samantha Atkins]

Hmm.  If it is inheritable then a question arises as to what effect  
this protein has on the baby pigs that may ingest it and whether any  
of those effects may be passed on to other parts of the food chain  
like humans.

- s

On Aug 25, 2005, at 5:24 AM, Giu1i0 Pri5c0 wrote:

> Looks like another big step toward advanced biotech applications by  
> South Korean scientists.
> Forbes: A team of South Korean scientists said that they had  
> succeeded in cloning genetically altered piglets that will produce  
> a protein helpful in fighting cancer . Professor Park Chang-Sik at  
> Chungnam National University said his team had created four female  
> piglets that will produce milk containing GM-CSF, a kind of protein  
> that stimulates production of white blood cells.
> GM-CSF, or cytokine granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating  
> factor, is prescribed for sufferers of leukemia and anemia or  
> patients who have low white blood cell counts during cancer treatment.
> But it is prohibitively expensive, fetching 600,000 usd per gram  
> because production is limited. 'We have cloned piglets that will  
> produce milk containing a high level of GM-CSF within a year,' Park  
> told Agence France-Presse. To clone the piglets, the team said it  
> used virtually the same method as the one that produced the world's  
> first cloned animal, Dolly the Sheep. The piglets are capable of  
> reproducing and their offspring will also carry GM-CSF in their  
> bodies, Park said.
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