Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430401pmid: N/A

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430402pmid: N/A

Jukes, Thomas H.

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430403pmid: N/A

Levin, Simon A.

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430404pmid: N/A

Bulfield, Grahame

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430405pmid: N/A

The development of genetic manipulation in laboratory and farm animals is reviewed. The particular problems of the use of these techniques for modulating commercially important characteristics in farm animals is discussed in detail. The potential hazards of genetic manipulation techniques are evaluated from the view of the welfare of the animals involved and the hazards to other animals and man from the release of transgenic animals into animal breeding practice.

Beringer, John E.; Bale, Mark J.

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430406pmid: N/A

Genetically manipulated plants, animals and microorganisms are being released into the environment for research purposes and will soon be released commercially in large numbers. Mankind has considerable experience of the release of unmanipulated organisms and will need to base regulatory procedures for manipulated species on this experience and knowledge of gene transfer and stability. In this article some problems that might be posed by genetically manipulated organisms are discussed.

Edelman, J.

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430407pmid: N/A

Mycoprotein (trade name Quorn) is a new food developed via a fermentation process by Ranks Hovis McDougall PLC (RHM) after some 20 years of R&D. RHM is now in partnership with ICI for its further development. Mycoprotein has been fully cleared toxicologically and nutritionally and a ‘Certificate of Free Sale’ was given by the UK Government in 1985; it appears that this is the first ever formal Government clearance of a new food. Much of the testing procedure required for food additives or drugs is unsuitable, even impossible, for food, and both the company and the Ministry had a learning curve to follow during the development of an appropriate safety‐testing programme.

Bobrow, Martin

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430408pmid: N/A

Congenital or genetic disorder may be diagnosed early in fetal life, allowing parental choice as to the continuation of the pregnancy. There are general low cost/low risk screening procedures, and more precisely targetted diagnostic procedures. The techniques used include ultrasound, chromosome and biochemical analysis. The range of diagnosable disorders has been greatly extended by the advent of DNA‐based gene analysis techniques. Ethical and emotional issues are of considerable and continuing importance. The hazards of prenatal diagnosis are misdiagnosis, misinterpretation, and misapplication, and no qualitatively different issues have been introduced by the advent of new biotechnologies.

Robertson, James S.

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430409pmid: N/A

The revolution in biotechnology in the 1980s raises the possibility of producing vaccines which were hitherto difficult or impossible to produce by classical techniques. This revolution must be met by parallel considerations of appropriate evaluation and control procedures to ensure the safety and efficacy of such new vaccines. A significant problem of these new approaches is the difficulty in identifying a suitable subunit component able to induce a satisfactory protective immune response in the host. In addition vaccines produced in unusual cell substrates may contain contaminants not previously encountered by man. These and other problems are being met by the application of many of the control measures found useful in the past, by evaluation of all manufacturing processes, by the formulation of guidelines by international groups of experts, and by free international exchange of information on new problems of control as they arise.

Zuckerman, Arie J.

doi: 10.1002/jctb.280430410pmid: N/A

It has been said that ‘never in the history of human progress has a better and cheaper method of preventing illness been developed than immunisation’. This is well illustrated by the WHO Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), which in developing countries is now preventing nearly a million deaths annually from measles, pertussis, and neonatal tetanus, and for which there is a commitment by the WHO and UNICEF to protect all children by immunisation by the end of the decade. This enormous undertaking will be facilitated by the rapid advances in molecular biology and recombinant DNA technology, in the understanding of immunological mechanisms and by the production and application of monoclonal antibodies so that the structure and location of important antigenic determinants or epitopes can be determined. Chemical synthesis of oligopeptides has been simplified, and computer programmes and X‐ray crystallography provide the tools for the determination of three‐dimensional structure of proteins, so that the structure and location of important antigenic determinants or epitopes can be predicted.