Meat+Poultry - January 2017 - 17

Scientific Protein Laboratories

Editor's Note: In the early hours of Aug. 31,
2010, Aris Landon Chant made his entry into
this world. In an otherwise normal delivery,
Aris was born nine days premature. Common
to preterm birth babies, he was born with
respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). In this
condition, the lungs are underdeveloped and
unable to support normal breathing. Aris'
condition was particularly important to me -
he is my grandson.
Respiratory distress syndrome is a
condition marked by the insufficient presence
of pulmonary surfactant. Pulmonary
surfactant is a compound which allows the
lungs to expand easier and more evenly.
Without it, the lungs become damaged and
oxygen absorption is greatly inhibited.
Untreated, it often leads to death.
Years ago, a preterm baby with RDS
had a 30 percent chance of survival.
For years, scientists tried to create a
synthetic surfactant to treat RDS, but
were unsuccessful. In 1991, a Buffalo,
New York, physician discovered that a
surfactant extracted from bovine lungs
called "calfactant" would effectively
replace the missing surfactant from RDS
lungs. A porcine surfactant soon followed.
These animal-derived pharmaceuticals
dramatically improved the survival rate for
RDS to 95 percent. It's likely that use of this
compound saved Aris' young life, as it has for
tens of thousands of premature babies a year
since then.
Animal-derived medicines today play
a critical role in human health. My family
experienced it firsthand with Aris' birth, but
the reality is that millions around the world
benefit from animal sourced pharmaceuticals
without even knowing it.

T

o appreciate the importance of animalsourced pharmaceuticals, it's necessary
to understand that not all compounds
can be synthesized in the lab. Dan Schaefer,
professor of Animal Sciences at the Univ. of
Wisconsin-Madison, explains: "Anything that
would be purely a protein in nature could be
synthesized using biotechnology. Anything
that would be a combination of protein and
carbohydrate or a protein and a lipid is not
possible to synthesize using biotechnology.
Anything that is purely carbohydrate or purely
lipid in nature couldn't be synthesized using
biotechnology."
Pure proteins, such as insulin, can be made
synthetically. Pulmonary surfactant, which
is a combination of protein and lipid, cannot
be synthesized, and by necessity must be
harvested from natural resources.
Modern pharmacology traces its roots to
the early 1800s, when the properties of the
botanically derived drugs such as morphine,
quinine and digitalis were finding human
application. By the late 1800s, scientists began

Beef and pork
heart valves are
more successful
than synthetic
valves for
heart valve
replacement.

In 2010, Aris Landon Chant
was born with respiratory
distress syndrome. In
previous years, a pre-term
baby with this condition
might have died, but Aris
survived thanks to an
animal-derived medicine.
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