Texas A&M Researchers Cloning BSE-Resistant Cattle
CONTACT:
Writer: Wendy Lawrence; 409/845-4382; [email protected].
Source: Dr. Jorge Piedrahita, 409-845-0732
COLLEGE STATION -- Cows are indeed useful creatures, supplying milk, beef, leather -- and even producing life-saving drugs in their milk. But bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE), or "mad cow" disease, poses a constant threat to the cattle industry, spurring Texas A&M University researchers to develop the technology for cloning BSE-resistant cattle.
Although outbreaks have occurred in Great Britain, there are no documented cases of BSE in the United States. But the possibility always exists, and as a result, scientists must constantly test cattle for BSE - an expensive and time-consuming process.
Cows contract BSE by ingesting feed contaminated with BSE proteins. These BSE proteins bind to proteins already in the cow's system, known as PrPs, and rapidly reproduce, attacking the brain tissue and eventually killing the animal. Humans may be able to contract the human form of BSE, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, from ingesting infected meat, milk or other products from cows.
Because BSE relies on PrPs to reproduce, cows with no PrPs in their system should not be able to get BSE, said Dr. Jorge Piedrahita of Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine. Hence, he and a fellow researcher, Dr. Mark Westhusin, are working to clone cattle without PrPs in their body.
Piedrahita and Westhusin haven't yet created a BSE-resistant cow. However, mice cloned to lack PrPs grew up healthy, and any BSE proteins put into their body slowly broke down and disappeared.
"That is very exciting," Piedrahita said, "because it means that we can make a cow that lacks the PrPs and can survive and be economically viable."
This would eliminate the need for costly tests and make bovine-produced drugs and other products much cheaper for the consumer, he added.
Last year, Texas A&M researchers met with the largest producers in the cattle industry and asked them what research advances they most wanted to see.
"One of their priorities was the availability of a BSE-resistant cow," Piedrahita said. "Even though the disease is not here, they are concerned about the potential impact of this disease. Having a BSE-resistant animal would provide an added level of protection to the consumer."
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