In search of the golden egg TranXenoGen believes transgenic chickens will outshine cows and goats

TranXenoGen has not yet begun creating flocks of transgenic chickens -- animals carrying an inserted gene, or transgene, in all their cells. But company researchers have produced animals that are partially transgenic, and they believe they have found a novel way of inserting genes into chicken embry...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTelegram & gazette
Main Author Lisa Eckelbecker Lisa Eckelbecke
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Worcester, Mass GateHouse Media, Inc 05.03.2000
Subjects
Biotechnology industry
Ebert, Karl M
Pharmaceutical industry
SHREWSBURY
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Summary:TranXenoGen has not yet begun creating flocks of transgenic chickens -- animals carrying an inserted gene, or transgene, in all their cells. But company researchers have produced animals that are partially transgenic, and they believe they have found a novel way of inserting genes into chicken embryos without using the viruses that other chicken biotech companies are employing. The effort has caught the notice of investors and collaborators. KS Biomedix Holdings Plc of London recently invested $1.6 million in TranXenoGen. GeneMedix Plc of London last week licensed an insulin precursor gene to TranXenoGen for use in the effort to produce insulin products for the $5 billion global diabetes market. And U.S. Transgenics Inc. of Washington, D.C., agreed to collaborate to create chickens that produce human serum albumin, a protein that currently is derived from human blood supplies and has $1.3 billion in sales worldwide. TranXenoGen, with 10 employees, is one of a handful of small, privately held U.S. biotech companies working on transgenic chickens. Most are in the early stages of work and guard their technology carefully. No drugs based on recombinant proteins from the eggs of transgenic chickens are on the market, and none is in human trials.
ISSN:1050-4184