Fw: Bright idea to break mould of new drug trials

Bright idea to break mould of new drug trials
JEREMY WATSON

IT IS the scourge of bathrooms, damp houses, student squats and ageing
bread.

But humble mould will shortly be viewed literally in a new light following a
remarkable breakthrough by a team of Scottish scientists.

They have genetically altered mould to make it glow when it comes in to
contact with a wide range of poisons and pollutants.

The point of the luminous mould is to help scientists devise safe new drugs
while also providing an alternative to animal testing. Rather than exposing
rabbits, mice and monkeys to suffering, the quantity of light emitted by the
modified mould will be used to test the amount of 'stress' caused by toxins.

The remarkable mould, which is about to be commercially marketed for the
first time, promises other benefits such as detecting contaminants in food,
and highlighting harmful chemicals in the environment.

The luminous mould has been developed by researchers at
LUXBiotechnology, a commercial offshoot of the school of biological
sciences at Edinburgh University.

The mould has been genetically modified to incorporate the genes of
naturally luminous sea creatures such as jellyfish and coral. Jellyfish
glow more strongly when they come under stress. The research team
have observed the same effect when the genetically engineered
moulds - called biosensors - ingest substances that are potentially
harmful.

Dr Patrick Hickey, the director of LUXBiotechnology, said many
naturally occurring organisms glow, but only when they are alive, so
the degree of luminescence can be an accurate measure of their health.

"We can now engineer these fungi to glow in response to different
drugs and pollutants," Hickey said. "You add the drug and then
watch out for a distinctive change in the light output."

The patented moulds in use were very similar at a basic cellular level
to animals so they were an ideal testing ground.

"The results from biosensors will be rapid, accurate and will be an
alternative to animal testing methods," Hickey said.

"This will allow pharmaceutical companies to test their products in a
more cost-effective and ethical manner than traditional animal testing.
The biggest cost is the animals themselves and looking after them."

Although in some cases animal testing has been reduced by the use of
computer simulations and laboratory-grown bacteria, the UK remains
at the top of the European league for animal testing. Statistics from the
Home Office, which licenses animal experimentation, show that around
2.6m animals - mostly rodents - are used by scientists to test new drugs
and other products every year.

The methods have brought sometimes violent clashes between scientific
organisations and animal rights campaigners, prompting a search for
viable alternatives.

LUX hopes that genetically altered moulds will be one solution. "We are
not saying that fungi will be able to replace all animal testing but we hope
that it will be able to replace some," Hickey said.

The firm was founded by Hickey three years ago after winning first prize -
£45,000 - in the university-based Edinburgh Technology Fund business
plan competition. The biosensor programme has been supported by further
grants of more than £100,000, of which £45,000 came from the Scottish
Executive's fund to back promising new technologies.

Although there are ethical and environmental concerns about
genetically-modified organisms escaping into the atmosphere, LUX says
the mould will be "immobilised" in sealed test kits.

Other uses include testing food and drink for contamination. Supermarkets
and other shops can lose thousands of pounds of business if products
become accidentally or deliberately contaminated.

"In every bio-industry and agrochemical sector, from drug screening to
pollution monitoring, biosensors are going to have a significant positive
impact on effectiveness and efficiency," Hickey claimed.

"One of the key things is our system, unlike others, can get results within
seconds. People can screen thousands, or even hundreds of thousands,
of samples at a time. The fungi are also more robust than bacterial cell
cultures which are difficult to look after and can change and so provide
different results."

Animal rights campaigners said they would support any new technique
that reduced the need to use animals for testing products.

A spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said:
"Any method that reduces the needless suffering of animals used to
test products is a step forward."

Glowing tribute to technology

THE luminous mould was created using technology that allows scientists
to give a single cell the characteristics of another living organism. In this
case, the luminosity gene was isolated from a jellyfish and stitched into a
single mould cell.

The cell then grew and divided normally producing a readily-replenished
army of mould that glows in the dark and can be provoked - by
introducing foreign substances - into glowing more strongly.

There are potentially widespread applications. Companies which
want to test drugs for cancer and AIDS patients often use rodents.
LUXBiotechnology claims its biosensors made from mould will do
the job equally well.

The luminous moulds will also be particularly useful for helping to
develop new drugs against fungal diseases such as candida or thrush.

Food safety is another potential area with the food industry needing
to test additives and colourings for harmful effects. Batches of food
or drink believed to be contaminated by toxic substances can also
be tested.

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