Here's a local tidbit from the University of Wisconsin...this came across a
local (WI) farm e-list this a.m.
Date: Monday, November 30, 1998 10:45 AM
Subject: BREAKTHROUGH IN TRANSGENIC ANIMAL TECHNOLOGY
>>Return-Path: rjcooney@facstaff.wisc.edu
>>Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 11:40:27 -0600
>>To: Recipient.List.Suppressed:;@students.wisc.edu
>>From: Bob Cooney <rjcooney@facstaff.wisc.edu>
>>Subject: BREAKTHROUGH IN TRANSGENIC ANIMAL TECHNOLOGY
>>
>>
>>Science Report
>>
>>Agricultural and Consumer Press Service College of Agricultural and Life
>>Sciences
>>440 Henry Mall Research Division
>>Madison WI 53706 (608) 262-1461 University of Wisconsin-Madison
>>
>> For Immediate Release
>> For More Information:
>> Jane Homan (608) 643-0152
>> Jane_Homan@gala.com
>>
>>BREAKTHROUGH IN TRANSGENIC ANIMAL TECHNOLOGY
>>
>>Research reported in the 24 November 1998 edition of the Proceedings of
the
>>National Academy of Sciences may herald a new era in biopharmaceutical
>>production.
>>Work performed in the laboratory of former University of Wisconsin-Madison
>>dairy science professor Robert Bremel, and by Gala Design LLC, a Sauk
City,
>>Wis. company, has resulted in breakthrough increases in the efficiency in
>>the production of transgenic livestock.
>>Dairy livestock are seen as key players in the production of genetically
>>engineered protein drugs, such as monoclonal antibodies, hormones, vaccine
>>proteins and enzymes. Introducing new genes into the animals allows them
>>to produce specific pharmaceutical proteins in their milk, from where it
>>can be extracted as a drug component. Costs of producing proteins by this
>>route are far lower than more traditional pharmaceutical production
>>methods, using large culture vessels or bioreactors.
>>The PNAS article describes a new method of gene introduction that greatly
>>increases the efficiency of production of transgenic cattle. The
>>transgametic method inserts a gene into the unfertilized oocyte or egg,
>>which stably incorporates the gene into the maternal germline. Once the
>>egg is fertilized, all cells of the resulting embryo carry the new gene,
>>and the calf is born with the capability to secrete a new protein in milk.
>>Subsequent generations, offspring of each founder animal, will also carry
>>the desired gene.
>>Older, less efficient production methods made transgenic livestock very
>>costly. Cloning and pronuclear microinjection typically lead to only 1
>>percent of animals born carrying the new gene. The new technology also
>>sidesteps problems of gene stability and mosaicism seen with
>>microinjection. When DNA is microinjected into a fertilized embryo, the
>>DNA is often not taken up until cell division has occurred. As a result,
>>only some cell lineages carry the new gene. If the germ or sex cells
don't
>>carry the new gene, then the gene isn't reliably transferred to offspring.
>>The efficiency of the new technology could make cloning and pronuclear
>>microinjection economically obsolete for many biopharmaceutical purposes.
>>It also paves the way to applications of biotechnology in agricultural
>>livestock, similar to those that have changed crop agriculture in recent
>>years. The technology may also have applications in other mammals.
>>The scientists believe the technology described also points to a key
>>process in evolution. Transposable elements, or transposons, are known to
>>jump to new locations in the genome (the cell's hereditary material) and
>>bring about changes in the genome that confer selective advantage. The
>>experimental introduction of genes by a vector - which is structurally
>>very similar to a transposable element - into the exposed genome of the
>>oocyte results in uptake of a new, fully heritable, genetic
characteristic.
>>The vectors used build on the work of the late Howard Temin, a UW-Madison
>>researcher who won a Nobel Prize for his work in describing reverse
>>transcription, in which RNA is used as a template for copying and insertin
g
>>a DNA gene into a cell.
>>Early steps in the research were performed by Anthony Chan, then a
graduate
>>student in Bremel's lab at the UW-Madison's College of Agricultural and
>>Life Sciences, and the work was completed by Bremel and colleagues at Gala
>>Design. The technology is licensed through the Wisconsin Alumni Research
>>Foundation, which returns royalty income from university inventions to the
>>University of Wisconsin.
>>
>>For more information see www.gala.com or email galainfo@gala.com
>>The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison is at
>>www.cals.wisc.edu/
>>
>>###
>>transgenic breakthrough 11/98
>>
>>*************************************************
>>
>>Bob Cooney
>>College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
>>University of Wisconsin-Madison
>>440 Henry Mall Madison WI 53706
>>phone 608-262-2679 fax 608-265-3042
>>rjcooney@facstaff.wisc.edu
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