Opposing Digits

That idea moves a step closer to becoming a reality this week, as the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) considers the final stages of an application to license a natural human protein extracted from the milk of goats.

If the EMEA says "yes" on Thursday, Atryn will become the world's first medicine to be produced from a genetically modified animal and represents the vanguard of this long-promised science.

The 57 unique goats that produced the drug-laden milk reside on an anonymous-looking farm belonging to GTC Biotherapeutics, an hour's drive from Boston, Massachusetts.

To the eye, they are indistinguishable from their fellow ruminants, jostling in their pens for a better look at their visitors. But what marks them out is an extra snippet of DNA entwined in their genome.

# posted by madthumbs @ 6:49 AM