Contraceptive Frankencorn Being Tested
Chive Mynde
http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,548964,00.html
GM corn set to stop man spreading his seed
Special report: GM crops debate
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday September 9, 2001
The Observer
Scientists have created the ultimate GM crop: contraceptive corn.
Waiving fields of maize may one day save the world from overpopulation.
The pregnancy prevention plants are the handiwork of the San Diego
biotechnology company Epicyte, where researchers have discovered a rare
class of human antibodies that attack sperm.
By isolating the genes that regulate the manufacture of these antibodies,
and by putting them in corn plants, the company has created tiny
horticultural factories that make contraceptives.
'We have a hothouse filled with corn plants that make anti-sperm
antibodies,' said Epicyte president Mitch Hein.
'We have also created corn plants that make antibodies against the
herpes virus, so we should be able to make a plant-based jelly that
not only prevents pregnancy but also blocks the spread of sexual disease.'
Contraceptive corn is based on research on the rare condition, immune
infertility, in which a woman makes antibodies that attack sperm.
'Essentially, the antibodies are attracted to surface receptors on the
sperm,' said Hein. 'They latch on and make each sperm so heavy it cannot
move forward. It just shakes about as if it was doing the lambada.'
Normally, biologists use bacteria to grow human proteins. However,
Epicyte decided to use corn because plants have cellular structures that are
much more like those of humans, making them easier to manipulate.
The company, which says it will not grow the maize near other crops,
says it plans to launch clinical trials of the corn in a few months.
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Science is not belief, but the will to find out.