(Genetically Tampered) Animal Farm

The British beat us to it again. It's not the Beatles or the Bill of Rights, but a TV show that featured some of the most interesting animals being developed for pharmaceutical and food uses. Animal Farm aired in 2007 and was hosted by Giles Coren, provocative food writer for The Times, and Olivia Judson, reknown scientist reporter.

It aired for only four episodes, but includes segments on body builder cows and featherless chickens. Below is the youtube video of the segment on goats that produce spider silk (if you'd like, skip to 3:30 to see the bit about spider goats)

Enviropig - Sumptuous Superhero

Pigs aren’t flying yet, but they are fighting crimes against the environment in an unexpected way.

In the running for FDA approval is Enviro-pig, a pig that has the unique ability to process phosphate with up to 60% more efficiency than your average pig. Because Enviro-pigs can extract more nutrients from their food, they grow slightly faster with less food and most fascinatingly, poop less.

Phosphate, a major ingredient of fertilizer, contributes to strong bones and good physiological development in pigs. Pigs are traditionally given phosphorus supplements in addition to their corn or soy bean feed to boost lean muscle mass and encourage good growth.

The problem with phosphorus is that it also boosts growth in algae, causing huge problems in local water. To handle the large amounts of pig manure, farmers spread manure over fields as fertilizer. Since 50-75% of the phosphorus in pig feed is indigestable by conventional pigs, the manure contains high levels of phosphorus. Phosphorus in the soil ends up in surrounding bodies of water due to rain and run off stimulating the growth of algae.

Normally, algae produces oxygen; however, the amount of algae eventually increases so much that it crowds out other organisms living in the water. Aside from simple problems of space, the bacteria that feed on algae growths also become so numerous that oxygen levels begin to dip low enough that fish and other aquatic life can no longer breathe.

Enviro-pigs have the potential to be the solution to this problem. The genome whizzes at Guelph University in Ontario, Canada, have encoded their pigs with a secret weapon: phytase. Enviro-pigs secrete this enzyme in their salivary glands thus enabling them to break down and absorb the previously indigestable phosphorous (a compound known as phosphate) in their feed.
I had the opportunity to speak with the creator of this unusual swine, Dr. Cecil Forsberg. He is an Emeritus Professor at Guelph University and heads the research and development of Enviro-pigs.

Professor Forsberg with an Enviro-pig

Q: Pigs with heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids have been developed recently as well. Can you explain why you chose to go the route of creating more environmentally friendly pigs?

A: The problem has been developing for a while, there has been a question of what to do the waste, good fertilizer but swine farms tend to be highly concentrated in one area. Omega-3 is very heart healthy - It’s a very good idea, but it just so happens that we were looking at the other end.

Q: How long have you been working on Enviro-pigs?

A: Twelve years. It has been quite complicated being the first ones in this area. We started with a large number of transgenic pigs - 33 lines with the same construct - and narrowed it down to one line. We had to take into consideration growth factors, site of [transgene] integration into the chromosome, and multiple copies [the transgene] integrated into one site on the chromosomes.

Q: Can you talk about some pitfalls you met along the way?

A: Our initial line had penicillin resistance, it ran well [and] tested well. As far as doing it right [though], if you just go back to transgenic plant research, the initial plants they worked with had an antibiotic resistance factors [and did not receive approval from the FDA] so we knew that it would not be acceptable by the regulators even by the general public. There were half a dozen lines without the antibiotic resistance, but we lost 2.5-3 years.

Q: Do you worry about isolation and contamination?

A: There are few feral pigs and pigs don’t fare well in cold climates [such as Ontario]. In Georgia, Florida, or Australia it might be more of a problem, but the frequency of losing a conventional pig is rare. It’s a marginal problem. I don’t think having a phytase would change it much.

Q: What do you see for transgenic animals in the future?

A: I have been convinced since the beginning that it is a positive aspect. The good outweighs the bad. Over the 20 or 30 years the swine and poultry will double globally. Developed countries are eating less but developing countries are consuming more. Right now some 50% of corn is utilized for animal feed and 80% of soy is utilized for animal feed. I don’t see how corn and production will satisfy needs for animal and human consumption.

With this increase in animal production there is going to be a problem with pollution. To meet those needs for people who insist on having a high meat consumption we have to reduce the impact the animals have on the environment.

The best solution would be for everyone to be a vegan. But I don’t see that happening because it very difficult to meet the nutritional requirements without meat. It’s a social thing too.

FDA Gives Genetically Engineered Animals Some Play: But First, Tryouts

The biggest thing happening in transgenics right now is probably the Food and Drug Administration's newly released guide for evaluating genetically engineered animals for potential consumption by the public. Since I mentioned this above, I thought I'd explain the whole deal in a little more detail.

Rabbits, like I said before, are not the only animals hopping onto the American food and drug market. Goats with therapeutic proteins used to treat blood clots, cows with insulin in their milk, salmon which maintain a constant growth spurt throughout their lifespan, pigs with healthy omega-3 fatty acids and pigs with environmentally friendly waste are all lining up to go through the evaluation process set forth by the Food and Drug Administration on January 15th of this year. (bullet pointed version)

These regulations apply to animals developed for 6 specific reasons:

1. To produce healthier foods and to improve the production process of animal products
example: pigs with omega-3 fatty acids and pigs with more environmentally friendly waste

2. To improve the health of animals
example: cows engineered to be resistant to an udder infection known as mastitis

3. To provide substances that aid in treating human diseases
example: rabbits that produce therapeutic proteins in their milk

4. To improve human and animal interactions
example: hypo-allergic pets

5. To provide test subjects for studying human diseases
example: mice with human immune systems for the study of immune-deficiency diseases

6. To produce industrial material for consumer goods
example: goats with spider genes that enable them us to extract silk from their milk

The producers of these remarkable genetically patchwork creatures will have to prove that their brain child will do no harm in their intended roles - as with anything approved by the FDA. The animals will be put through regulations as if they were drugs. While transgenic animals could be tested as food, the process for testing drugs is considered more rigorous and requires more testing than does the process for food. Drugs must also receive an official approval from the FDA while food achieves a status as "generally considered safe."

What these producers will not have to do is label their products as genetically engineered. This is perhaps the aspect most odious to those against the development and use of genetically modified organisms and one that irks even the most optimistic consumer.

The argument that the companies that produce these new foods will want to promote the healthful and environmentally friendly aspects of their products on their labels. But with no obligations to do so, it is conceivable that complete transparency will not be the case. Genetically engineered foods could find their way into the diets of unknowing consumers.

As much as some of us advocate genetically engineered animals for their health and environmental benefits, it is somewhat troubling that those who don't agree might not be able to make a choice to exclude it from their diets.

A Milky Solution

Drinking milk gives you strong bones and makes you grow strong and tall. Mostly likely, however, those handsomely mustached celebrities are not talking about milk that can combat deadly genetic diseases. In fact, the best milk for you if you suffer from a rare genetic disease may be not come from cows, but from rabbits.

Animals have been genetically nipped and tucked for decades to serve as test subjects for drug development. By injecting human DNA into lab animals in their earliest stages of development, scientists are able to mimic the human systems on which they can test their treatments. In the search for a cure for AIDs, lab mice with the human DNA code for immune systems are used for testing.

But animals with bits of foreign DNA - called transgenic animals - are being used in a whole new way. Proteins are the key to treatment for a number of diseases but harvesting high quality proteins in the large amounts necessary for effective protein therapy is costly. As it turns out, mammary glands are very good at producing protein.

While platypi farms probably will not be popping up everywhere, bunny farms might. The first transgenic bunny was the "GFP Rabbit" named Alba. The property of the artist Eduardo Kac, the rabbit was created in 2000 with the help of French scientist Houdebine. She has the genes of a jellyfish and glows a fluorescent green. Pretty useless.

The transgenic bunnies of today are hardly debuting on the fine arts scene. Pharming, a Dutch Biotech company, received approval from the European equivalent of the FDA last summer for 5 rabbit raising facilities in the Netherlands. With the recent FDA approval for the use of transgenic animal products in the US, these rabbits may be making the move across the pond.

The Dutch bunny works hard producing 10 liters a year of milk full of the protein Rhucin, a theraputic protein for people suffering from the rare genetic disease Hereditary angioedema. The symptoms, swelling in the face and abdomen triggered by stress or trauma, can be deadly if the airways swell shut. Since this is not an allergy, the symptoms do not respont to antihistamines as most swelling does. The Rhucin protein harvested from these bunnies could be the primary treatment for a disease presently without other solutions available.

This new use for transgenic animals is very heartening and with cows and goats joining the rabbit as theraputic protein producers, one question becomes unavoidable. We all know how to milk a cow or a goat, but how in the world do you milk a rabbit?