Goats' milk has become very prominent in transgenetics. Scientists are looking at many genes that they can put into goats to get proteins that they cannot make in culture or it is too expensive to grow them in culture. One protein that scientists hope to produce in goats' milk is Antithrombin III, it has the potential to treat heart attacks and strokes and prevent blood clots. The goats milk creates a fast cost efficient way to produce this and other proteins such as the protein for spider silk and a vaccine for malaria. The production of these proteins has been made more possible by the successful cloning of goats. By cloning the goats, that carry the desired gene, it will be spread faster, natural reproduction can be followed by cloning and the gene can be passed on from generation to generation and the protein it produces used. |