OF4-7/19/07 9:25AM CUSTOMIZED CANCER DRUGS orig bdcst OF2-11/24/06 7:25AM
The Osgood File.
I'm Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
One day, cancer drugs may be customized by harvesting human antibodies from chicken eggs. The story after this.
One reason cancer is so hard to fight is that each kind has a different molecular signature. Scientists have been developing a new class of drugs using customized human antibodies to target specific cancers.
"They are going to be as important as our conventional drugs in terms of therapeutics. It's just a matter of our understanding the biology enough." said Dr. Anna Wu.
Dr. Anna Wu is Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA. She says these antibodies are so effective, biotech companies can't make them fast enough. Right now they're made in a lengthy, expensive process using hamsters, mice or dairy animals
"We need milligram amounts, gram amounts and it's becoming a challenge for companies to be able to produce enough." said Dr. Wu.
But Origen Therapeutics says it's found a new way.
SFX: Chickens/Roosters clucking.
Genetically modifying chickens with human DNA and turning them into "live protein factories". Dr. Robert Etches heads up the research.
"The chicken is an ideal animal for producing proteins because there is so much protein in each egg and modern breeds of chickens lay approximately an egg a day." said Dr. Robert Etches.
Etches says these chicken-manufactured antibodies are also more effective in fighting disease.
"The sugar residues deposited on those proteins by chickens enhance the cell-killing capability of those monoclonal antibodies." said Dr. Etches.
Dr. Wu says human trials are needed, but she is hopeful.
"These are things that you can make cheaper, faster, readily accessible so we can talk about doing things like going into the grocery store and buying antibodies." said Dr. Wu.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. July 19, 2007 |
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