[escepticos] El "Asunto C-6/99" y otras cosas

[Josep Català <tecpress@...>]

Va sobre transgénicos varios, claro....


Maiz contra la hepatitis B

¿Qué tal quedar inmunizado contra la hepatitis B con solo comer maíz?
Pues eso es lo que hay. Adjunto el despacho de "Reuters":

> Plants offer new way to serve up vaccines
>
> SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 30 (Reuters Health) -- A Texas-based company is using corn to
>  produce proteins that may be useful as drugs or as vaccines against such
> disease-causing organisms as E. coli and hepatitis B virus, according to a
> report presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society.
>
> Corn is ideal for the task because it can produce large amounts of properly
> assembled and processed proteins, according to Dr. Elizabeth E. Hood of
> ProdiGene in
> College Station, Texas. What's more, proteins can also be stored in corn seeds
> for years and retain activity.
>
> ``Plant seeds have developed the ability to store proteins for many years to be
> able to feed their growth during germination,'' she said. ``Those proteins have
> to be
> stable.''
>
> Transgenic (genetically-modified) corn plants can be produced within a year of
> deciding on which gene is needed, Hood said. Her company already has plants
> producing aprotinin, which is used to reduce blood loss during surgery. The drug
>  should enter the market sometime this year, according to the Texas researcher.
>
> Edible vaccines offer advantages over traditional vaccines because they are less
>  stressful for vaccine recipients and safer than an injection, Hood said. In
> addition,
> they do not require refrigeration.
>
> And they appear to promote strong immunity to disease-causing organisms, at
> least in animal studies. For example, mice fed transgenic corn containing the
> Lt-B
> subunit of E. coli developed a strong antibody response against the protein in
> 14 days. E. coli is a bacterium found in the intestinal tract and certain
> strains that are
> generally found in contaminated meat have been linked with potentially
> life-threatening illness.
>
> Interestingly, the mice had a weaker antibody response if they were fed regular
> corn with the protein as an additive rather than in the corn itself.
>
> Hood's company received a patent last July for edible vaccines against human
> hepatitis, and expects clinical trials for hepatitis B vaccine to begin soon.

El silencio de Grinpís

Greenpeace France "et al" (con eco en nuestro país a cargo de la sucursal
española de la inefable multinacional) promovió en su momento ante el
Tribunal de Justicia Europeo un pleito contra la base misma de los
transgénicos. Y han perdido. Y lo callan, claro.... Un resumen de la
Sentencia del "caso C-6/99" se puede encontrar en:
     http://www.biotechknowledge.com/showlib_es.php3?3050
que indica, también, cómo acceder al texto completo de la Sentencia
(tela: ..... 14 páginas).


Foro en la FAO

Me han pasado este contacto:  http://www.fao.org/biotech/forum.htm
como puerta de acceso a un Foro que sobre biotecnologia en la
agricultura de los paises en vias de desarrollo, acaba de estrenar la
Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la
Alimentación (FAO). Lo cierto es que me es imposible acceder
a él.... Si alguien lo consigue, que diga cómo lo hace....


Saludos noticiosos.

Josep Català