Humanized Cow Milk
Chinese scientists have successfully combined human genes into more than 200 cows in an attempt to make them produce human breast milk. According to Ning Li, the lead investigator on the research team, all 200 cows are now producing milk identical to the milk produced by a lactating human mother.
Their method involved cloning human genes and mixing them with the DNA in a cow embryo. The embryo was then implanted into a female cow. Their plan is to develop a genetically modified alternative to baby formula that can be given to infants. However, there are understandably safety concerns about feeding genetically modified breast milk to babies.
Darpa’s Super Soldiers
The U.S. defense company DARPA has been interested in the human genome for years, but getting around the Human Chimera Prohibition Act (law preventing human-animal hybrids) is difficult. But they seem to be experimenting with various ways to engineer a “super soldier” with their research into the human genome.
One project in their 2013 budget projection set aside $44.5 million to develop “biological systems that cross multiple scales of biological architecture and function, from the molecular and genetic level.” The goal is to enhance the soldier’s abilities in a warzone.
Another project, the Human Assisted Neural Devices Program, sets a goal to “determine whether networks of neurons can be deferentially modulated through optogenetic neural stimulation in animal models.” Optogenetics is an obscure branch of neuroscience that is used to “manipulate neuronal activity and to control animal behavior.” The project budget specifies that they hope to have a working demonstration of that technology on a “non-human primate” sometime this year.
