(somewhat OT)
<<proteins in eggs>>
It's not just Viragen - there are a bunch of private companies in this race - Avigenics, GeneWorks, Origen and some others.
Maybe if they just beat up the eggs with a pinch of salt the chicken immunoglobins will rise to the top? After all, chickens are lighter than humans. <g>
Here's a PR from earlier this year that I saved:
Thursday September 6, 8:03 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Origen Therapeutics, Inc.
Origen Receives Two SBIR Grants Aimed at Furthering Protein Production in Eggs
BURLINGAME, Calif., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Origen Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it has received two Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants to support research ultimately directed at producing therapeutic proteins in eggs. Each of the two grants provides Origen with $100,000 over a six-month period.
Oviduct-specific expression system
The first grant covers the development of a tissue-specific expression system that enables genes encoding pharmaceutical proteins to be expressed exclusively from tubular gland cells in the oviduct of transgenic chickens, resulting in the secretion of high yields of those proteins into egg white. Origen will design the expression system specifically for use with the company's embryonic stem (ES) cell-mediated technology for creating transgenic chickens. The grant also supports development of a quick method for changing the protein produced in the expression vector.
``Development of a new vector for oviduct-specific gene expression would offer several benefits for the production of pharmaceutical proteins in transgenic chicken eggs,'' said Origen scientist, Lei Zhu, Ph.D. ``First, this new vector will allow us to insert large DNA sequences that can not be addressed with current retroviral expression vectors, thus expanding the number of proteins that might be produced. Second, by limiting gene expression to the oviduct, the protein's potential effect on the chicken itself would be limited to that tissue in mature, laying hens. Third, ensuring that the protein is deposited directly into the egg white, where it can be easily purified, should enable the production of large quantities of pharmaceutical proteins at low cost.''
Universal Recipient Embyros
Origen currently develops chimeric chickens by injecting embryonic stem cells into very early stage (stage X) recipient embryos. Using this method, however, the frequency and level of chimerism obtained is variable and unpredictable. This second SBIR grant will support research aimed at developing chickens that produce recipient embryos that consistently yield high-grade chimeras when combined with donor ES cells. The production of chimeras that are substantially derived from donor cells yields birds that predictably display the traits encoded within the ES cells.
``Somatic cell chimeras created in this way might be used to produce pharmaceutical proteins in eggs as soon as the chimeras commence laying and before they transmit the gene encoding the biopharmaceutical protein to the next generation of birds,'' said Origen scientist, Babette Heyer, Ph.D.
About Origen's ES Cell Technology
Origen has developed a broad-based technology platform centered on the isolation and culture of avian embryonic stem (ES) cells. Early stage ES cells have the capacity to differentiate into any other cell type (totipotency), making them potentially useful for the large-scale replication of desirable avian lines, as well as the genetic engineering of poultry. When injected into recipient embryos, the ES cells can contribute to both somatic tissues and the germline (i.e. any cell that is destined to become a sperm or egg cell) of the resulting chimeric chick. Thus, desirable traits can potentially be reproduced on a commercial scale, either by repeating the ES injection process into many recipient embryos or through the conventional breeding of birds whose new genetic traits have become stably incorporated into their germline.
Origen Therapeutics, headquartered in Burlingame, CA, is a privately held biotechnology company developing product opportunities from the emerging fields of avian embryology, embryonic stem cells and transgenics. The company's mission is to become a technology leader in the development of very high quality avian lines for the poultry industry and for the production of complex recombinant protein therapeutics, including human antibodies, not easily produced through other means. Attracted by the speed and economy with which domestic chickens can be produced, Origen expects to create significant corporate alliances with biotechnology and large pharmaceutical companies, as well as within the poultry industry, for the commercialization of its products.
SOURCE: Origen Therapeutics, Inc.
Can't say I've kept track of the IP here - someone was suing someone else last I recall.
Peter |
