Mmmm, there’s nothing like yummy corn to provide you with your daily dose of – medication? Though they won’t be serving it to you on the cob, scientists are using this plant to grow the drugs of the future. But why go to all this trouble?
Well, some human diseases are caused by the body’s inability to make certain proteins. The solution? Create some in the lab. Unfortunately, such production methods are expensive. Now scientists want to mass-produce these treatments in corn to save money. Sound like a delicious dream?
Until now, one of the huge limitations was that plant cells process proteins differently from those in our bodies. It’s actually a sugary problem. When cells make certain types of proteins, the final product is given a dusting of sugar – literally. The hitch? Human and plant cells use different types of sugars. Our bodies can’t recognize the protein if it is finished differently. Think of it as decorating a cake with chocolate ganache versus fondant – sure, they’re both sweet, but the end-product just isn’t the same.
For the first time, Canadian scientists at Simon Fraser University have come up with a solution to this problem. They’ve given corn cells new instructions – make the protein, hold the sugar. Researchers can then harvest the drug and customize it with a coat of human-appropriate sweetness. Now, if only they could make the medication taste better…
Always informative and straight to the point. Wish I knew more about ganache, to be honest. But point very well made regardless!
以玉米产药——一项美味的现实
translated by 啃麦子的小袋鼠
说起来，似乎没有什么东西能像美味的玉米那样能供给你每日所需的药物份额了吧？虽然玉米不能靠它的棒子芯给你供药，不过科学家们正在计划未来用玉米这种植物来生产药物。不过，为啥要弄出这种麻烦事呢？
（照片来源：Giandomenico Pozzi）
是这样的，有些人类疾病是因为人的身体无法合成某些蛋白质而引起的。解决方法是啥？在实验室里合成呗。不妙的是，这种合成方法很昂贵。现在科学家们想要通过玉米来大量生产这些医疗所需品，这样可以省钱。怎么样，听起来像不像个美味的好梦？
到现在为止，其中一个很大的缺陷就是植物细胞加工蛋白质的过程和我们身体里的过程不同。这其实是一个糖分问题。当细胞合成某些种类的蛋白质之时，最后成品会被加入少量的糖—— 确实是这样。问题在哪？人类和植物细胞应用的糖属于不同种类。如果蛋白质的合成是以不同方式完成的，我们人体就无法识别那种蛋白质。想想，来对比下你用奶油巧克力酱涂抹蛋糕，和用方旦软糖来装点蛋糕——当然了，它们都很甜，不过成品毕竟是不同的。
有史以来第一次，加拿大西蒙·弗雷泽大学 （Simon Fraser University）的科学家们有了一个解决方案。他们对玉米细胞发出了新命令——使蛋白质抑制糖分。研究者们可以随后收获这些药物，并且给它们加上一层人类适用的糖衣来完成改造。现在，要是他们能让那些药尝起来味道更棒就好了……