MPR: Genetics' Next Frontier

Genetics' Next Frontier
By Mary Losure
July 21, 2000

At least 700 hundred animal geneticists from around the world are gathering for a conference in Minneapolis this weekend. Police are bracing for protests. biotechnology opponents say scientists are pushing too far into the controversial territory of genetic engineering.

"Gene," is the world's first cloned cow. The company that closed Gene now has a herd of nearly 100 cloned animals. A company official says transgenic farm animals for widespread use are only a few years away.
(Photo courtesy of Infigen)

MIDWEST FARMERS have planted genetically-altered crops since the late 1990s. Crops like bt corn and Roundup-ready soybeans are bioengineered to contain a gene from another species. These so called "transgenic" crops now make up one-third of the corn and half the soybean acreage in the Midwest.

Now, transgenic livestock are on the horizon. Already, scientists are developing goats, sheep and dairy cows with transplanted genes for use in laboratories. Those animals are producing human pharmaceuticals in their milk, although the products have not yet been approved for commercial use.

In theory, scientists could use the same technology to create genetically modified dairy cows for widespread commercial use by the nation's farmers. That could mean disease-resistant dairy cows, for example.

But Chuck Muscoplat, dean of the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota, says huge obstacles stand in the way. "It's very, very expensive, it's almost not feasible except for the most valuable of all human pharmaceuticals," says Muscoplat. "That may happen within the decade, to have very, very specialized pharmaceutical producing animals, but I don't think it's likely to be routine production of milk or dairy or meat products, within the next decade. I think that's a much longer term time horizon."

"We may need to do more research to prove to the public that we're good stewards of technology, and that the technology does not harm the animals, and that the products from the animals do not harm people."

- Michael Bishop
Infigen Corporation

For one thing, genetically-engineered animals are much more difficult to propagate than plants. In general, embryonic cells injected with the desired gene must be cloned and raised in surrogate mothers. The failure rate of cloning is spectacularly high. It takes 100 attempts to produce just two or three live offspring. Muscoplat says current technology just isn't up to the task of producing genetically engineered animals on a large scale.

More importantly, he says , the public still needs to deal with the troubling social and ethical questions raised by the new technology. "I think these things find their way into society when society comes to understand them and realizes the benefits outweigh the risks, and its my opinion that community is not yet ready for genetically-modified animals on any large scale."

But others seem undaunted by the obstacles. Michael Bishop is president of Infigen Incorporated, a biotechnology company in DeForest, Wisconsin. The company owns the technology that led to the birth of Gene, the world's first cloned cow, in 1997. Gene now lives in the Minnesota Zoo.

Infigen now has a herd of nearly 100 cloned animals. He says transgenic farm animals for widespread use are only a few years away.

"We're very close, all we lack is the genes that we want to put in the cells to do it right now. Because we could create the founder animals carrying the gene, for instance the bull, and use that bull to breed literally thousands and thousands of cows."

Bishop says he expects the necessary genes will be identified within the next few years. But even if the company solves the technical obstacles in the way of transgenic farm animals, Bishop acknowledges the public may not be ready for them. "That may take a few years. We may need to do more research to prove to the public that we're good stewards of technology, and that the technology does not harm the animals, and that the products from the animals do not harm people."

RELATED LINKS
The Genetics Debate (MPR special)

Infigen

A/F Protein

The public may still have a few years to get used to the idea of transgenic farm animals. But transgenic fish are much closer to supermarket shelves. Fish are easier to genetically manipulate than mammals, because fish produce massive numbers of eggs that can quickly be raised in water.

A Waltham, Massachusetts based company called A/F Protein is raising test pens of genetically altered salmon on Prince Edward Island in Canada. The salmon contain a gene from a cold water fish known as an eel pout. They grow four to six times faster than standard salmon.

Company President Elliot Entis hopes to have the genetically altered salmon ready for sale to commercial fish farmers in two years. He says they will be clearly labeled to show their origin.

"We're very sensitive to the fact that consumers need to be made aware of what the product is; we've got nothing to hide," he says.

Entis says the main objections have come from environmentalists concerned that the transgenic fish could escape from fish farms and mate with wild fish. The company plans to address those concerns by sterilizing its genetically modified salmon. It's now seeking approval for its product from the Federal Food and Drug Administration.

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