Cows Being Used to Produce COVID Vaccine

“This is promising,” Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security told ScienceMag.org. “We want to have as many countermeasures as we can.”
“This is promising,” Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security told ScienceMag.org. “We want to have as many countermeasures as we can.”
(Brody Wheeler)

The fight against COVID-19 continues throughout the U.S. A biotechnology company in South Dakota is using cows to produce human antibodies to fight SARS-CoV-2. Clinical trials using the antibodies will begin this summer. 

“This is promising,” Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security told ScienceMag.org. “We want to have as many countermeasures as we can.”

The approach to producer antibodies being used by SAb Biotherapeutics was developed by researchers 20 years ago. According to ScieneMag.org, the company genetically alters dairy cows so that certain immune cells carry the DNA that allows people to make antibodies. The change allows the animals to manufacture large quantities of human antibodies against a pathogen protein injected into them. 

Cows are a good choice for producing antibodies because they have a lot of blood and their blood can contain twice as many antibodies per milliliter as human blood, said Eddie Sullivan, SAb Biotherapeutics’s president and CEO.

Read more from ScienceMag.org.

Tags

Dairy - General Coronavirus Retail - General Cattle
 

Latest News

Retail Industry
Crop Planting Progress Surges As Spring Warms Up Soil
Crop Planting Progress Surges As Spring Warms Up Soil

So far, 12 states out of the 18 total reporting acres of corn planted are ahead of the five year average.  

Matthew J. Grassi
Retail Business
Ferrie: With Poor Quality A Concern, Hold Back Some Seed Corn
Ferrie: With Poor Quality A Concern, Hold Back Some Seed Corn

Ken Ferrie says 37% of seed corn samples he's reviewed fall below good quality levels; 11% fall into the poor category. He advises retaining 2 lb. of each questionable lot until stand establishment can be evaluated.

Rhonda Brooks
Retail Industry
US to Test Ground Beef in States With Bird-Flu Outbreaks in Dairy Cows
US to Test Ground Beef in States With Bird-Flu Outbreaks in Dairy Cows

Federal officials are seeking to verify the safety of milk and meat after confirming the H5N1 virus in nine states since late March. The public health risk is low, but is higher for those exposed to infected animals.

Reuters
Retail Industry
H5N1 Mandatory Testing For Interstate Movement Of Dairy Cattle In Effect
H5N1 Mandatory Testing For Interstate Movement Of Dairy Cattle In Effect

The agency will provide reimbursement for testing at an approved National Animal Health Laboratory Network laboratory.  

Rhonda Brooks
Retail Business
A Margin Squeeze is Setting in Across Row-Crop Farms, and 80% of Ag Economists Are Now Concerned It'll Accelerate Consolidation
A Margin Squeeze is Setting in Across Row-Crop Farms, and 80% of Ag Economists Are Now Concerned It'll Accelerate Consolidation

There's an immense amount of pressure riding on this year’s crop production picture, and with a margin squeeze setting in across farms, economists think it could accelerate consolidation in the row-crop industry. 

Tyne Morgan
Retail Industry
How Do Wind, Solar, Renewable Energy Effect Land Values?
How Do Wind, Solar, Renewable Energy Effect Land Values?

“If we step back and look at what that means for farmland, we're taking our energy production system from highly centralized production facilities and we have to distribute it,” says David Muth.

Margy Eckelkamp
View More