Indian scientists isolate genetic information needed for the large mammals to produce biologics
Water buffalo wallowing in muddy pools are a common sight in rural India and other Asian countries. When not relaxing, the large black mammals plow the rice fields, haul carts laden with produce, or drive sugarcane presses. Their horns, hides, meat, and milk have supported rural life for ages.
The beasts of burden are now primed to take on one more task: The animals may one day churn out therapeutic proteins—also called biologics—to treat human ailments.
A team of Indian biologists has demonstrated that a key component of the water buffalo genome can be manipulated to produce foreign proteins in the buffalo’s milk (J. Biotechnol. 2015, DOI:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2015.02.001). The findings suggest the possibility of modifying the genetic material of water buffalo—that is, creating transgenic buffalo—to produce protein drugs, says team member Subeer S. Majumdar, of the National Institute of Immunology, in New Delhi.