Drug Company Searches for People with Super Traits
February 5, 2014 |
Belgian pharmaceutical company UCB has launched a competition to find individuals, families or communities that possess extraordinary characteristics such as immunity to infections, low pain sensitivity, or ability to heal rapidly. The goal of the company is to find possible genetic basis of their abilities to develop new drugs. UCB will award $10,000 to the top entrant.
Extraordinary individuals have inspired medical research in the past such as the 10-year old boy from Pakistan who has the ability to cut himself with knives and walk on burning coals without experiencing pain. Because of this individual, the scientists discovered that he and several others from the same region lack a protein on the surface of their nerves. Researchers hope to use this information to develop medicines for extreme pain.
Read more details at http://topinfopost.com/2014/01/30/hacking-humans-drug-company-launches-global-hunt-for-superhumans.
|
Biotech Updates is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a not-for-profit organization. It is distributed for free to over 22,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in biotechnology. Your support will help us in our mission to feed the world with knowledge. You can help by donating as little as $10.
-
See more articles:
-
News from Around the World
- AATF Receives Feed the Future Funding to Improve Maize Production in East Africa
- USDA Develops Inventory for Wild Relatives of Important Crops
- New Process Makes "Biogasoline" from Farm Waste
- Potatoes Show Promise for Meeting Climate Change Challenges
- Researchers Find Genetic Cause for Citrus Canker
- Protein as 'Master Regulator' Controls Flowering, Disease Resistance in Plants
- Adoption and Uptake Pathway of GM Technology by Chinese Smallholders: Evidence from Bt Cotton Production
- Pakistan Formulates Biotech Policy Plan
- Asia and Pacific Countries Finalize Regional Rice Strategy
- India Should Not Succumb to Unscientific Prejudices Againts GM Crops: Prime Minister
- UN to Give Technical Facilities to Pakistan's Agriculture, FAO Rep
- EuropaBio Launches Digital Platform for GM Dialogue
- Scientists Reveal Secrets of Potato Blight
-
Research Highlights
- Regulation of GMOs in India
- Study Shows that Beneficial Insects Unharmed by Bt Crops
- Comparative Diversity of Arthropods on Bt Maize and Non-Bt Maize in South Africa
-
Beyond Crop Biotech
- Scotts Tests Biotech Grass at Home Lawns
- Drug Company Searches for People with Super Traits
-
Announcements
- 40 Chances Fellows
-
Resources
- Infographics About ISAAA: The Go-to-source of Information for GM Crops
-
Read the latest: - Biotech Updates (October 2, 2024)
- Gene Editing Supplement (September 26, 2024)
- Gene Drive Supplement (February 22, 2023)
-
Subscribe to BU: - Share
- Tweet