Milk allergies could be a thing of the past.

Daikun

Via The Daily Meal:

Could this be the future of dairy milk — allergy-free milk? Researchers in New Zealand say they have been able to genetically engineer a cow that produces allergy-free milk, spurring on hopes that the same can be done for other livestock.

What the researchers did, Reuters reports, is interfere with the RNA, or gene code, to reduce the amount of a certain protein in cow milk. The protein, beta-lactoglobulin or BLG, is what's known to cause allergic reactions. But this new and improved cow's milk has a 96 percent reduction in BLG.

Apreche

Does that mean it is cows milk that a lactose intolerant person can drink?

Alan

By the wording in this article it seems only to target one part of the allergy.

trogdor9

Lactose intolerance is different from milk allergy. Milk allergy is an immune reaction to a specific protein found in milk, while lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose (due to a deficiency of the enzyme lactase).

@WindUpBird or @TheWhaleShark could probably explain better than I, but that's the basics of it.

Apreche

I know people with lactose intolerance. I've never met someone with a milk allergy that I know of.

Anthony Heman

I know one person with a milk allergy.

Alan

Edit: Scratch that site looks shady.

It appears to be rare for adults to have the allergy. Getting curious now and will have to look some more info up now.

Daikun

Edit: Scratch that site looks shady.

It links to a Reuters article.

Anyway, here's the difference:

Milk allergy = Cannot drink BLG.
Lactose intolerance = Cannot drink milk sugar.

Daikun

UPDATE:

Gene that causes allergies found.

WindUpBird

Cool thing about finding a disease gene: You know what causes something!
The buzzkill: We can't do anything with this knowledge yet, and if you're alive and reading the journal, it's already too late for your genetics.