Milking a Herd of Bunnies - the Latest in Downsizing

by Barbara McPherson | December 2, 2009 at 10:26 am

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You might think that milking a herd of bunnies is the latest in downsizing farm operations, but no it is an extremely high tech operation. A biotech firm in the Netherlands, Pharming, has developed a breed of transgenic rabbit that carries a human gene.

These rabbits express a human protein in their milk. The milk is then treated to extract the human protein. Proteins are complex, 3-D structures that govern many body activities. They must be made inside a living body. This protein can then be used to treat humans with a deficiency in that protein which can currently only be obtained through blood donations.

Unlike drugs that can be made synthetically in the lab, therapeutic proteins need to be made by biological processes, making transgenic animals a popular option.

A rabbit, for instance, can produce an average of 120 milliliters of milk a day. In the modified rabbits, each liter contains 12 grams of human C1 inhibitor, according to Pharming spokesperson Marjolein van Helmond.

Transgenic or GMO animals are of high interest to biotech companies as the potential for producing human proteins in milk is massive. Genetically altered goats have been put forward as able to produce large quantities of GMO milk, but rabbits breed much faster and require little space to survive.