posted on Aug, 29 2010 @ 09:11 PM
reply to post by Sri Oracle
From this source (I must admit that its reading seems almost legalistic in a way and I must sadly admit a bit confusing at first) it seems many of the
recombinant drugs on the market do pose, even if slight, a risk of disease being spread.
Also from this source it seems as if this type has found a way to bypass human or animal proteins therefore completely removing such a risk
altogether. This is the type of research and technology I can certainly stand behind, if that truly is the case.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
Baxter Healthcare is developing a next-generation recombinant factor VIII for the treatment of haemophilia A that is produced using a totally
protein-free manufacturing process. By excluding proteins or raw materials derived from human or animal sources in the final product, the risk of
transmission of potentially infectious agents is removed.
I realize this is just an abstract, but it gets the point across fairly quickly. I would like to see the full article though.
From this source I take it that the recombinant drug is produced using mice or hamsters because of this quote.
www.advate.com...
You should not use ADVATE if you are allergic to mice or hamsters or any ingredients in ADVATE
www.drugs.com...
At this link they again tell you not to use if…
you are allergic to any ingredient in Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), including mouse, hamster, or bovine proteins
After some more reading from further links, I see finally how these recombinant proteins are made. I will admit that I was not really aware of this, I
would surely have came across it eventually though. As much as I hate to use it as a source I did go to Wikipedia. It does seem to be an altering of
DNA resulting in a chimeric DNA. As with any alteration like this there are risks involved.
en.wikipedia.org...
In the production of chimeric(from chimera) plasmids, the processes involved can be somewhat uncertain[1], as the intended outcome of the
addition of foreign DNA may not always be achieved and may result in the formation of unusable plasmids.
(again please excuse the use of
Wikipedia)
From my understanding the recombinant drugs used for this are similar to the vaccines and anti-venoms created with horses and chicken embryos (though
I could be wrong). As an example of what I am talking about I pose this source and a quote from it.
rpi.edu...
Transformation
The first step in transformation is to select a piece of DNA to be inserted
into a vector. The second step is to cut that piece of DNA with a restriction
enzyme and then ligate the DNA insert into the vector with DNA Ligase. The insert contains a selectable
marker which allows for identification of recombinant molecules. An antibiotic
marker is often used so a host cell without a vector dies when exposed to a certain
antibiotic, and the host with the vector will live because it is resistant.
The vector is inserted into a host cell, in a process called transformation. One
example of a possible host cell is E. Coli. The host cells must be specially
prepared to take up the foreign DNA.
Selectable markers can be for antibiotic resistance, color changes, or any other
characteristic which can distinguish transformed hosts from untransformed hosts.
Different vectors have different properties to make them suitable to different
applications. Some properties can include symmetrical cloning sites, size, and
high copy number.
I could be wrong but this sounds very similar to that.
As I mentioned above there are risks involved of disease jumping from species to species either directly or through mutations. In the case of my
feelings toward such a end through a means I admittedly am on the fence. I would prefer to see a less risky way like that are talking about in the
first link (though again I must admit I am not fully aware of how they get to that point). Certainly finding a way to not intermingle species would be
the best route to go.
While I sit on the fence with this I will say in this sort of case I lean more toward the technology part of it because the risks are low compared to
more radical combing that has and could take place. You raised an interesting thought though with that question. I will have to check into it some
more.
Raist