Midwest research looks at cows to produce vaccines.

2003 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Research to help defend against diseases that could be spread by bioterrorists is being carried out in the pastures of northwest Iowa.

Calves have been genetically engineered to produce human antibodies - their immune systems reacting to infection as a human's would - to defend against diseases such as smallpox, botulism and anthrax.

Trans Ova, a Sioux Center animal embryo transfer company, working with Hematech, a biotechnology company based in Westport, Connecticut, hopes to produce antibodies that can be used in humans.

The U.S. Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health have given more than $6 million to Hematech to encourage the research.

Trans Ova and Hematech have successfully produced 50 calves that contain the genes necessary to make antibodies effective in humans, said James Robl, Hematech chief scientist and cofounder.

They look like normal Holstein calves, but the company has as much as $30,000 invested in each animal.

"We've gotten the proof of the concept in place. We do know that the human genes tend to function normally in the cow and can produce a robust response," Robl said. "Now the next step is just to work on trying to increase the level of production."