By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

AMES, Iowa — The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) released its latest issue paper, citing that transgenic livestock may play a crucial role in producing new medications for treatment of human disease.

“This role may consist of the actual production of recombinant proteins, including biotherapeutic proteins and antibodies, or it may involve the development of new animal models that can be used in studies relating to human diseases,” said Carol Keefer, associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, and task force chair of this newest issue paper.

Background on CAST

“Both approaches can provide significant advances in the development of new treatments,” said Keefer, who heads a consortium of international scientists from the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and Brazil, who volunteer to write and evaluate issue papers on transgenic livestock and topics such as animal nutrition, food safety and the convergence of energy and agriculture.

Established in 1972 out of a 1970 meeting sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, CAST assembles, interprets and communicates credible, science-based information to state legislators, regulators, policymakers, media, the private sector and the public, as well as farmers seeking in-depth research about their profession.

CAST, an Ames-based nonprofit organization made up of an international consortium of 38 board members, represents more than 170,000 member scientists and an eight-member executive committee responsible for publishing task force reports, commentary papers and issue papers written by scientists from many disciplines. Board members also participate in the peer review process.

Transgenic issues

The newest issue paper, The Role of Transgenic Livestock in the Treatment of Human Disease, was written and reviewed by a six-member task force. Transgenic means any plant or animal organism which has its genes or DNA artificially inserted into another organism by a variety of methods.

“The CAST paper was a review of the status of research and development and of the role of transgenic livestock in the treatment of human disease,” Keefer said on May 22. “(It) is a compendium of many groups’ research, not necessarily my own research or that of the other authors.”

Specific topics covered in the paper include: methods of transgenic animal production, including pronuclear microinjection and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT); recent developments in SCNT-based gene transfer technologies, including gene targeting and transchromosomic technology; and transgenic animals as disease models for the development of new treatments.

While no specific human diseases were mentioned for possible treatment, the newest issue paper cited the possibility of such infections as cancer, organ donor rejections and autoimmune diseases.

John Bonner, CAST executive vice president, said implementing transgenic livestock as producers of new medications included using biopharming, bioproducts from milk, and bioproducts from serum, and addressing societal and economic and regulatory issues.

“As scientists continue to perfect technologies in the near future, more applications of transgenic animals for the treatment of human diseases will become available,” he said.

Bonner added that these publications are fundamental to CAST’s mission to assemble, interpret and communicate credible science-based information nationally and internationally.

“The information in these CAST papers is important to U.S. farmers because it summarizes information from national and international research that reflects the current science regarding the production and distribution of animal products, and the use of biotechnology-produced crops in their production,” he said.

Bonner added the content of the issue papers is freely available to regulators, legislators and policymakers, as well as the general public. “Information from these papers has been distributed in media articles across the U.S. as well as in Europe, Australia and the United Kingdom,” he said.

“These are all areas that have an effect on U. S. farm markets and their policies can affect U.S. agricultural trade.”

The full text of the paper (Issue Paper No. 35) may be accessed at www.cast science.org along with many other scientific publications, or is available in hard copy for $5 (includes shipping) by calling 515-292-2125.

This farm news was published in the June 2, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.