Tobacco’s New Leaf ■ 189States carries a recessive mutation that codes for a defective
glucosylceramidase enzyme. And about one in 40,000 people
carries two copies of the mutation and displays the symptoms of
Gaucher disease. These symptoms, caused by the accumulation
of lipids in cells, include anemia, enlarged organs, swollen glands
and joints, and, in severe cases, neurological problems and
early death.
Enzyme replacement therapy is effective but very
expensive—about $200,000 annually—and must be
continued, every 2 weeks, for life. The Israeli biotech company
Protalix Biotherapeutics, working with the U.S.-based Pfizer
Pharmaceuticals, has developed a process to genetically modify
carrots to produce a replacement enzyme. The biopharmed
enzyme will cost about 25 percent less than the standard
enzyme therapies, which are grown in mammalian cell lines.
Protalix is now working on treatments for other enzyme
deficiency diseases.
The FDA’s May 2012 approval of the drug developed by
Protalix alarmed some environmental activists and health
advocates, who fear that the company’s genetically modified
carrot is just the beginning of a wedge that will lead to an
underregulated and potentially dangerous industry. There is some
legitimacy to their concerns: the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) does not require an environmental impact assessment
for biopharmed crops; nor does it require biotech companies
to share the location of their test fields or the identity of the
biopharmed molecules being produced. Furthermore, the USDA is
not sufficiently staffed to effectively monitor companies involved
in biopharming.
What do you think? Should biopharming be allowed in the
United States? If so, under what conditions and with what
limits? For example, should it be allowed to produce drugs for
only life-threatening illnesses, or only under highly controlled
conditions? Be prepared to discuss your observations and
reflections in class.(^16) Life choices Go to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) influenza website (http://www.cdc.gov/flu)
and read the pages “Key Facts About Influenza (Flu)” (under
“Flu Basics”) and “Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine”
(under “Prevention—Flu Vaccine”). You can also go to the Mayo
Clinic’s influenza website (http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases
-conditions/flu/home/ovc-20248057). Then answer the following
questions.
a. What is the flu? How is it passed on?
b. What are the possible symptoms and complications of the flu?
c. How can you decrease your chance of getting the flu, and what
treatments are available if you become infected?
d. What are the benefits and risks of the flu vaccine?
e. Why is there a new flu vaccine every year?
f. Why is the flu vaccine more effective in some years than in others?
g. Who would you recommend should get the flu vaccine? Explain
your reasoning.
h. Do you get a flu vaccine every year? Why or why not?
E D q M
For more, visit digital.wwnorton.com/bionow2 for access to: