Genetically modified cow to produce hypoallergenic milk

Genetically modified cow to produce hypoallergenic milk

Russian researchers have announced the success of cloning a cow, whose genetic genes have been modified in the hope of producing anti-allergic milk, according to the British “Daily Mail”.

The cloned cow is currently 14 months old, weighs about half a ton, and appears to have a normal reproductive cycle.

“Since May, the cow has been working in the pasture every day among the institute’s other cows,” said Galina Singina, a researcher at the Ernst Federal Science Center for Animal Husbandry, noting that “it took some time to adapt, but it quickly happened.”

double success

The success of the experiment is twofold, according to a report from the Skoltech Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow, because the researchers succeeded in cloning a cow that was able to adapt to the rest of the herd in addition to changing its genes in order to not produce the protein, which causes lactose intolerance in humans.

Singina and her colleagues at the Skoltech Institute and Moscow State University used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to "knock out" the genes responsible for beta-lactoglobulin, the protein that causes "lactose malabsorption," called lactose intolerance.

Difficulty modifying the genes of cows

The researchers were able to clone the cow using SCNT, with the nucleus of a normal donor cell transferred into an egg with its nucleus removed. The resulting embryo was then implanted into the uterus of a cow until the calving stage.

While genetically modified mice are a fairly common phenomenon, modifying the genes of other species is significantly more difficult, due to the high costs and difficulties, said Peter Sergeev, a professor at the Skoltech Institute and co-author of the study, the results of which are published in Doklady Biochemistry and Biophysics. in reproduction and breeding.

Wonderful project

“So, the methodology that leads to the breeding of livestock with hypoallergenic milk is a wonderful project,” added Sergeev.

Roughly 70 percent of the world's population suffers from some form of lactose malabsorption, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which makes it difficult for them to digest milk and other dairy-derived products.

Professor Sergeev explained that cloning one cow is really just a test, while the next step will be to vaccinate a herd of dozens of cows with modified genes, in order to develop a breed of cows that produces naturally hypoallergenic milk