On Friday , the US Food and Drug Adminstration stopped puff its feet and acknowledge that tomorrow ’s drug are just as likely to be made in the bosoms of goats as they are to come out of a lab . The late craze among drug makers is “ pharming , ” or the practice of creating special , genetically - orchestrate animals that literally exude drugs . In the vitrine of the drug approved on Friday , ATryn , this means create GMO Capricorn that manufacture a crucial protein for enjoyment in the drug . These goats are the first “ pharm animate being ” that have been approved for drug manufacturing in America , though they have been used in Europe for at least two yr .
A Massachusetts company called GTC Therapeutics manufacturing ATryn , which is design to help hoi polloi with line - clabber disorderliness . Though ATryn is unconvincing to become a megahit drug , since it aids only a belittled part of the universe , its approval get to the door for more pharmed drugs to polish off the market . But why genetically engineer a ruck of Goat instead of just make drugs the old - fashioned way ?
According to the New York Times :
proponent say such “ pharm animals ” could become a means of grow biotechnology drug at small cost or in smashing quantities than the existing method – which include extracting proteins from donated human blood or growing them in big steel vats of genetically direct cells .
The protein in the goat milk , antithrombin , is sometimes in short supply or unavailable for pharmaceutical use because of a shortage of human blood plasma donations . GTC Biotherapeutics tell one of its goats can produce as much antithrombin in a yr as can be derived from 90,000 blood contribution . And if more drug is needed , the herd can be expanded .
More pharmed drugs are already in production , including a curative for ancestral angioedema ( a disorder that causes tissue well up ) make in the milk of GMO rabbits .
origin :
The Great Beyond[blog for Nature diary ]
New York Times
BiologyDrugsGeneticspharmaceuticals
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