GM cow produces ‘allergy free’ milk

Published on 02/10/2012 00:00

A YOUNG dairy cow has been genetically modified to produce milk lacking a protein that causes allergic reactions.

Samples of its milk were found to be free of a whey component called beta-lactoglobulin (BLG).

At the same time, levels of nutritious casein milk proteins were increased.

BLG is not found in human breast milk and is believed to be a major reason why some people cannot tolerate milk from cows.

Earlier research on mice showed that a GM approach could lower the BLG content of milk by an impressive 96 per cent.

The cow was engineered to have “switches” called microRNAs tailored to block production of the protein.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.