     |
| |
There’s a reason why doctors recommend that mothers breastfeed their newborns for the first few weeks of their lives: because human breastmilk provides the infant with much-need immune system boosters.
But if for some reason the new mothers can’t breastfeed their child, there’s a new alternative: goat’s milk. Or rather, the milk of dairy goats that have been genetically modified to contain lactoferrin, which is the protein found in human milk that arms newborns with immune protection. This component also fights off fungi and bacteria and also helps strengthen the child’s immune system.
Goat’s milk is easily contaminated though, so obviously the farm and where the milking will take place should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitary.
I think this is an interesting development and could benefit millions of babies all over the world. I just wonder if there are any possible negative effects that can arise from consuming genetically modified goat’s milk. It is genetically modified, after all. And while we’re not talking about cloning or stuff like it, who knows what could go wrong if you try to tweak what nature has already provided?
[via Softpedia]
Organic circuits have been in development for awhile, but it's still rare that the organics are producing the circuitry themselves. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara plan to break that silence with genetically engineered proteins that can make silicon dioxide or titanium dioxide structures like those used in the computer chips and solar cells that we hold dear. The trick, the university's Daniel Morse found, is to attach silica-forming DNA to plastic beads that are in turn soaked in the silicon or titanium molecules they're looking for: after some not-so-natural selection for the best genes, the thriving proteins can produce not only substantial minerals, but whole fiber sheets. Much work is left to get the proteins producing the kind of silicon or titanium dioxides that could run a computer or power your house, but the dream is to have synthetic creations that organically produce what would normally need a mining expedition -- imagine something akin to the glass-like Venus' Flower Basket sponge (pictured above) sitting in an Intel factory. We're half-expecting organically-grown smartphones at Whole Foods, right next to the kale chips and fair trade coffee.
[Image credit: Ryan Somma, Flickr]
UCSB engineers proteins that make silicon, leads hipsters to insist on organically-grown computers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 08:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink
Ars Technica | | Email this | Comments