Estonian scientists aim at cloning a cow that would milk insulin or another kind of  medicine and would roughly be worth about half a billion USD. And by the way, that’s not a joke and I am not talking about scientists who have gone insane.

With some luck and after a lot of testing, scientists at The Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences of the Estonian University of Life Sciences, lead by professors Sulev Kõks (pictured) and Ülle Jaakma, want to clone the trans-genetic “Golden Calf” by as soon as 2010. 

Milking insulin is one option. Theoretically the trans-genetic cow could also milk other hormones or antibodies. For example, the growth hormone or erythropoietin (EPO) or antibodies for people suffering from cancer or rheumatism.

The scientists in this case do not have to invent the wheel for the “Golden Calf”. All they have to do is use two already existing biological technologies – cloning and gene transformation. And do so successfully. That, however, has rarely been accomplished in the world thus far.

“We are talking about an endless production line,” Kõks jokes. “An ordinary-looking cow that eats grass and could theoretically live in a garage, yet whose milk has hormones that can easily be isolated and sold to the pharmaceutical industry.”

Although no one has ever bought or sold a trans-genetic medicine-milking cow, the estimates say the transaction would be worth at least half a billion USD (about 500 times more than breeding such a cow). Such figures apply, for example, because the world’s insulin market is worth about 10 billion USD. One cow milks as much as to be able to produce one tenth of the aforementioned insulin.

The concept of the super cow might sound unbelievable and unthinkable yet it’s nothing compared to what a group of Canadian scientists are trying to achieve. A Company called Nexia Biotechnologies is breeding a cattle of goats that would milk a spider’s web – a substance that in its essence is a protein (milk contains a lot of protein as well). The project is financed by the great NATO itself and the Canadian Defense Ministry due to the fact that the spider’s web is essentially stronger than steel and might thus be used for bullet-proof vests in the future.

Producing medicine by cloning a trans-genetic cow is at least 30-40 times cheaper and more effective than any other method. For example, insulin was historically taken from human bodies or pig pancreas. Today insulin is synthesized in laboratories. Breeding trans-genetic cows without cloning them makes no economic sense either – should you be lucky, one or two out of 100 trans-genetic animals will start milking the medicine. The effectiveness of cloning is 90 percent!

So far, Estonian scientists have made multiple attempts at cloning a trans-genetic animal, yet few of these have resulted in an embryo that can be used for the process. According to Kõks, success depends on many small factors. Although there are only a few trans-genetic clone cows in the world, there are more than 700 cloned bovine animals, most of them in US. Kõks is convinced that Estonians can do it as well!

The Estonian “Golden Calf” is already attracting potential investors. A company from Sweden and an outfit from the US have offered help in packaging and marketing the medicine.

Five steps to clone a trans-genetic Super Cow?

1. A gene is manufactured in a lab that a cow needs to produce the specific hormone or antibody in question.
2. The gene is transplanted in a cell and it will continue its growth in an incubator in conditions that are extremely precise.
3. The cell nucleus with the foreign gene is inserted in an ovum. With luck, it will develop into a clone embryo.
4. The clone embryo is transplanted in a strong and healthy cow.
5. After a nine months pregnancy, a trans-genetic clone bovine is born that will milk the medicinal protein in the future.