Gene-Modified Cow Makes Hypoallergenic Milk Rich in Protein

[bubbafrombama]

Interesting!

**broken link removed**

Gene-Modified Cow Makes Milk Rich in Protein, Study Finds

Gene-Modified Cow Makes Milk Rich in Protein, Study Finds

By Elizabeth Lopatto
October 01, 2012 3:53 PM EDT

Scientists have altered the genes of a dairy cow to produce milk that’s rich in a protein used in numerous food products and lacking in a component that causes allergies in humans.

Using a process called RNA-interference that turns certain genes on or off, scientists from New Zealand produced a cow whose milk had increased casein, a protein used to make cheese and other foods, and almost no beta-lactoglobulin, a component in milk whey protein that causes allergies. The female calf was also born without a tail, according to the report today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study can be seen as a proof-of-concept that tinkering with nutritional content genetically is possible, said William Hallman, director of the food policy institute at Rutgers University. More testing will be needed to determine the milk’s full dietary content, and scientists must consider the effects of breeding gene-altered animals, he said. The field has been controversial because of safety and environmental concerns.

“Could you clone a breeding stock that would allow for a herd with milk of this type?” Hallman, who wasn’t involved in the study, said in a telephone interview. “There are lots of issues about what might happen in the next generation.”

Today’s research represents a road map for other groups that may wish to knock out proteins, and not just in milk, he said.

Farmers in the U.S. earned about $35 billion in 2011 from dairy sales, said Christopher Galen, a spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation.

Aside from the hypoallergenic qualities, the genetically modified cow’s milk may also be valuable for its higher content of casein. The milk protein is used in a range of food products, including cheese, thickening agents in soups, salad dressings and whipped toppings. It’s also used in adhesives, cosmetics and some pharmaceuticals, Hallman said.

“In terms of dairy economics, casein is the most profitable part of the milk,” he said.

Ordinarily, the proportion of whey to casein in the milk from dairy cows is 21-to-79, according to the paper. The milk from the genetically altered cow had a ratio of 4-to-96, according to a paper. That’s probably due to a 96 percent reduction in beta-lactoglobulin, or BGL, the paper said.

Beta-lactoglobulin is produced in cows and other ruminant animals, but isn’t found in human milk. About 2 to 3 percent of infants in developed countries are allergic to cow’s milk proteins in the first year of life, according to the study.

Taillessness is a congenital condition in cows, the researchers wrote. More research will need to be done to determine if the calf’s taillessness is related to the gene silencing technique used to change the cow’s milk.

Tests now need to be done to see whether removing BLG really does help those with allergies and whether the genetic change harms the animal, according to the paper, written by researchers from New Zealand’s AgResearch, a government-owned research institute, and the University of Waikato, both based in Hamilton, New Zealand.

 

[Pharm_Fed]

There's no telling what negative effects this will have on the milk. Raw milk is already good the way it is. Screwing with nature is never a good idea IMHO.

 

[TeknoViking]

There's no telling what negative effects this will have on the milk. Raw milk is already good the way it is. Screwing with nature is never a good idea IMHO.

sorry I am going to have to disagree with you bro!

 

[renewlyf]

There's no telling what negative effects this will have on the milk. Raw milk is already good the way it is. Screwing with nature is never a good idea IMHO.

I'm with pharm_fed. I don't think I would drink the milk or eat the meat from any "geneticaly" modified cow.

sorry I am going to have to disagree with you bro!

Tekno - that's like aftermarket performance parts on a hot rod vroom vroom

 

[TeknoViking]

I'm with pharm_fed. I don't think I would drink the milk or eat the meat from any "geneticaly" modified cow.



Tekno - that's like aftermarket performance parts on a hot rod vroom vroom

hahaha nipple tassels...yes please!

 

[armstrongmike]

x3 You want to drink milk as unadulterated as possible.

 

[brutus69]

what's wrong with gennetically engineered food? there's a shit-ton of biotech food on the market. if you eat fruits and vegetables you're pretty much eating modified food. its hard to escape this fact whether u buy at stores or farmers markets. you want old school food, grow heirlooms.

 

[S2N]

what's wrong with gennetically engineered food? there's a shit-ton of biotech food on the market. if you eat fruits and vegetables you're pretty much eating modified food. its hard to escape this fact whether u buy at stores or farmers markets. you want old school food, grow heirlooms.

Type gmo corn/soy in Google and report back

 

[anarchocapitalist]

5 years from now ... in other news gmo milk causes cancer.

 

[jm425]

I can only imagine how expensive this modified milk is going to cost if it ever hits the market. GMO foods in general are made so that they fight off diseases and allergens prone to them. Double edged sword if you ask me. Less crops die off because they are genetically modified and are cheaper to produce and buy, yet on the other side of the coin, research has shown how bad they can be for us. Most people don't have the money to go out and buy organic, non gmo foods from farmers markets. So instead majority of us are stuck buying the gmo crap that's sitting in markets.

 

[Vehemoth]

Epigenetics my friend...things such as RNAi affect the cows ability to turn genes on and off but it also has negative effects within us as well. Monsanto, the bastards lol, just teamed up with a pharmacy working on this exact thing with RNAi....going to make "gluten free" products via this method.....stick to the natures way, mountain dog style :headbang:

 

[Hmmm]

There's no telling what negative effects this will have on the milk. Raw milk is already good the way it is. Screwing with nature is never a good idea IMHO.

Tell that to genetically modified wheat that has literally saved millions of lives. I dont think the wheat would understand, but you could try

 

[sbc5966]

Selective breeding in animals and crossing in plants is genetic modification. We have been doing it 1000's of years.

Ever seen what REAL corn looks like? It only has a few Kernels per 'cob'.

If you are against genetic modification it's like saying its bad to own a domesticated dog.

I'm confident my stomach acid will take care of anything nasty.

 

[Pharm_Fed]

Tell that to genetically modified wheat that has literally saved millions of lives. I dont think the wheat would understand, but you could try

I must not be up to date on this. Can you tell me how GMO wheat has saved millions of lives?

Selective breeding in animals and crossing in plants is genetic modification. We have been doing it 1000's of years.

Ever seen what REAL corn looks like? It only has a few Kernels per 'cob'.

If you are against genetic modification it's like saying its bad to own a domesticated dog.

I'm confident my stomach acid will take care of anything nasty.

This post shows your ignorance on the subject. And GMO food is nothing like owning a domesticated dog. Pets don't effect our health because they aren't ingested. Not quite an apples to apples comparison.

 

[S2N]

I must not be up to date on this. Can you tell me how GMO wheat has saved millions of lives?

I'm guessing he means that gmo wheat was grown in places where normal wheat couldn't grow thus giving food to people who ate it and did not die right away. Hardly saving lives as I'm sure they are all extremely malnutritioned and barely hanging on anyway. So saved lives? hardly. Furthered suffering? more plausible

 

[kevinp]

yep. gmo wheat is great..NOT..

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[sbc5966]

This post shows your ignorance on the subject. And GMO food is nothing like owning a domesticated dog. Pets don't effect our health because they aren't ingested. Not quite an apples to apples comparison.

My post was about genetic modification. Most people are against the idea itself. Lots of people are against genetically modified ANYTHING and lack the understanding of what genetic modification really is.

**broken link removed**

Nothing about this happened in a lab, maybe that's why people don't flip out? There are plenty of 'organic' variants of this type of corn and people don't think twice. The point is that 99% of the population eat corn on the right that is labeled NON-GMO when it's just as genetically modified as the stuff that DOES come out of a lab.

Also, I spent two years of my life doing RNAi research. In a lab.

 

[Pharm_Fed]

My post was about genetic modification. Most people are against the idea itself. Lots of people are against genetically modified ANYTHING and lack the understanding of what genetic modification really is.

**broken link removed**

Nothing about this happened in a lab, maybe that's why people don't flip out? There are plenty of 'organic' variants of this type of corn and people don't think twice. The point is that 99% of the population eat corn on the right that is labeled NON-GMO when it's just as genetically modified as the stuff that DOES come out of a lab.

Also, I spent two years of my life doing RNAi research. In a lab.

Genetic changes that naturally occur as part of an adaptation process are completely different than inserting/removing/altering genes so crops will be Round Up resistant, etc. Not even close to the same thing.

 

[sbc5966]

Those modifications I show are not because of a need for the organism, they are from genetic crossing. Introduction of genetic material that was not there 'naturally', on purpose.

Exact same thing.

Just as well, we could have done NATURAL selection for crops that were resistant to round-up, it would have just taken longer.

All round-up does is prevent aromatic amino acid synthesis. It would be perfectly reasonable to cultivate for crops that have an alternative isoform for enzymes that fit glycine in the active site.

 

[Hmmm]

Norman Borlaug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This guy won a nobel prize for it, I suppose it depends on how you define genetically modified.

He was breeding higher yield wheat crops and those resistant to wheat rust that destroys huge amounts of stock.

The article I read on him credited him for saving literally hundreds of millions of lives

Edit: well, wikipedia says over a billion. Article I read ( i forget where) had a high figure