The search for ways to promote growth of farm animals without adding
antibiotics to feed has led scientists in Taiwan to an advance toward
genetically engineering animals that produce higher levels of a natural
growth-promoting protein in their milk.
Winston T. K. Cheng and colleagues point out that the protein,
lactoferrin (LF), has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory actions and may
serve as an alternative to antibiotics in agriculture. The researchers
genetically engineered laboratory mice to produce milk enriched in pig LF,
and studied the growth of 10 generations of mice pups fed on the milk. Mice
fed LF-enriched milk grew 10-15 per cent faster than those fed on ordinary
milk.

In animal husbandry, it is thought that supplementing the diet of
neonatal pigs with porcine LF may decrease mortality rates of piglets due to
diarrhea and anemia by rendering them more resistant to common infectious
agents, the report states. Transgenic animals expressing the LF protein in
the mammary gland and secreting high levels of LF in the milk may be
generated to produce a whole new herd of diarrhea- and anemia-resistant
piglets with better growth performance and commercial value.

This study is scheduled for publication in the June 13 issue of ACS's
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The article is entitled
"Recombinant Porcine Lactoferrin Expressed in the Milk of Transgenic Mice
Enhances Offspring Growth Performance."

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by
American Chemical Society.


[www.sciencedaily.com]