Extract human protein from eggs and start the project of "laying eggs with chickens"

Introduction: in the April 1 issue of natural biotechnology, scientists from the University of Georgia and avigenetics, Inc in the United States reported their latest research results - the production of human protein from eggs At present, A2D has been able to obtain sheep that produce human protein in milk and goats that produce spider silk protein in milk through genetic engineering Today, the egg, which can produce human protein, will be a strong competitor of the former Because chickens grow and lay eggs much faster than sheep, goats, or cows, they may become a more convenient source of biopharmaceutical drugs At present, the chicken bred by genetic engineering can produce an enzyme in its eggs continuously, so that it can become a living "bioreactor" to manufacture protein drugs for human body A hen from White Leghorn can produce 330 eggs a year, each of which contains about 6.5g protein A2D scientists involved in the study were led by Alex Harvey of avian genetics They introduced a virus into chickens to produce a marker protein called β - lactamase β - lactamase itself is not directly used as a medical drug, but it can be easily detected in the laboratory In the study, Harvey et al Hatched a total of 546 eggs of pheasant, 126 of which were hatched Only 10% of these hatched adult chickens contain the required genes They mated these chickens with new genes to obtain those with high levels of β - lactamase genes in egg cells and sperm, and eventually produced offspring chickens with new genes At present, Harvey et al Have succeeded in breeding this kind of chicken for several generations, and all the offspring chickens can produce the eggs with the required genes A2D many years ago, scientists began to use bacteria to produce human and other biological proteins for disease treatment, but the proteins produced by mammals are the best The existing sheep, goat, rabbit and other animals that can produce human protein in milk can be used to treat cystic fibrosis, diabetes and other diseases In January, Canadian scientists announced that they have bred goats that produce spider silk protein in milk, which can be used to make armor and other hard materials, and spider silk protein of the same weight is harder and more elastic than steel However, it will take a long time for animals such as goats to start building embryos and eventually breed milk producing ewes However, the growth and development of chicken is very fast, and artificial fertilization can be used to reproduce rapidly The whole process from egg to laying hen only takes about 7.5 months In addition, it is very convenient to breed chickens without pathogens in aseptic equipment, so the eggs produced can be used to make vaccines that must be purified Therefore, it will become a reality in the near future to use eggs to produce drugs for the treatment of anemia and cancer A2D (author:) to feed Weibo to: