- Scientists have created the ultimate GM crop:
contraceptive
corn. Waiving fields of maize may one day save the world from
overpopulation.
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- The pregnancy prevention plants are the handiwork of
the San Diego biotechnology company Epicyte, where researchers have
discovered
a rare class of human antibodies that attack sperm.
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- By isolating the genes that regulate the manufacture
of these antibodies, and by putting them in corn plants, the company has
created tiny horticultural factories that make contraceptives.
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- "We have a hothouse filled with corn plants that
make anti-sperm antibodies," said Epicyte president Mitch Hein.
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- "We have also created corn plants that make
antibodies
against the herpes virus, so we should be able to make a plant-based jelly
that not only prevents pregnancy but also blocks the spread of sexual
disease."
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- Contraceptive corn is based on research on the rare
condition,
immune infertility, in which a woman makes antibodies that attack
sperm.
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- "Essentially, the antibodies are attracted to
surface
receptors on the sperm," said Hein. "They latch on and make each
sperm so heavy it cannot move forward. It just shakes about as if it was
doing the lambada."
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- Normally, biologists use bacteria to grow human proteins.
However, Epicyte decided to use corn because plants have cellular
structures
that are much more like those of humans, making them easier to
manipulate.
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- The company, which says it will not grow the maize near
other crops, says it plans to launch clinical trials of the corn in a few
months.
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