Got milk allergies? Then New Zealand may have a Franken-cow thats right for you!
Researchers at the University of Waikato say they have come up with a way to tinker with bovine DNA and engineer cows to produce hypoallergenic milk, according to ABC News.
The scientists essentially selected for genes that would cause the cows to make less BLG, a protein in cow milk that 23 percent of the general population is allergic to.
Milk allergies are, of course, far more serious than your garden-variety lactose intolerance. For those who are allergic to milk, reactions can range from hives to difficulty breathing, vomiting and diarrhea. (Milk allergies mostly affect young children, who typically outgrow them by age 3.)
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Dont expect hypoallergenic milk to appear in your local dairy aisle anytime soon, however. Stateside critics of the Kiwis work point out that while the GMO cows did produce far less BLG, thats probably not even the protein that causes milk allergy sufferers the most trouble in the first place.
Casein, actually, is the major milk protein that we believe causes most of the severe milk allergies, Dr. Scott Sicherer, a professor and researcher at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, tells ABC.
And, in fact, as BLG levels dropped in the cows milk, levels of casein actually rose.
Of course, the mutant Kiwi cows are only the latest headline-maker in the controversial scientific quest to genetically engineer better cows and frankly, theyre not even the creepiest.
That dubious honor probably goes to Chinese researchers, who last year announced they had created a mutant herd of 300 dairy cows capable of producing human milk. (Air quotes abound in trying to write about genetic engineering.)
Read more:
Can Genetically Modified Cows Produce Allergy-Free Milk?
Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith
