Posted on 06/23/2002 7:42:21 AM PDT by xsysmgr
A herd of bison owned by Ted Turner, the billionaire founder of CNN and America's biggest landowner, could hold the key to a cure for foot and mouth disease, according to scientists.
Geneticists have discovered that the 300 bison at Mr Turner's Vermejo ranch in New Mexico are "genetically pure" and have extraordinary powers to resist disease.
The scientists from Texas A & M University, one of the world's leading genetic research centres, are now trying to isolate the "anti-disease" genes with the aim of engineering them into other animals, including sheep and cattle.
They have said that success could make many animals immune to a wide range of bovine diseases, including foot and mouth, which devastated Britain's livestock last year and is endemic in many parts of the world.
Mr Turner, 63, owns 1.75 million acres of land, mostly in and around the state of Montana. His bison are believed to be descended from the 300 that survived when the species was pushed to the edge of extinction in the early 20th century. In the middle of the 19th century they numbered about 30 million. Over-hunting for skins was originally blamed for the rapid decline, but scientists now believe that most bison were wiped out by disease brought over with European cattle - suggesting that the survivors had a natural immunity to almost all common bovine illnesses.
Prof Joe Templeton, who is heading the genes project with Prof James Derr, said: "Bison have come back from the edge of extinction. The genetically pure ones have survived drought and many diseases brought over from Europe. They have a resistance to disease that is inherent and potentially very useful in the fight against animal diseases.
"Our first task is to find the disease-resistant genes and then to cross-breed or engineer them into farm animals. It is possible that they could help to prevent animals getting foot and mouth as well as many other diseases."
The Texas team is examining the DNA of all privately owned and wild bison herds in the United States.
So far, with half of the herds examined, Mr Turner's bison have proved to be the only ones that are "genetically pure", making the herd the most important in North America.
Most of the other bison in America are cattle hybrids, inter-bred by settlers in a failed attempt to produce better quality beef.
Prof Templeton said that his team was also "banking" tissue from genetically important bison herds so that they could be cloned in case "acts of God or acts of terrorism" wiped out the species in the future.
a.cricket
Ted Turner has been suffering from foot and mouth disease for years.
Figures Ted Turner would be raising skinhead, bovine supremacist bison.
What if Turner hadn't had the money to spend on a herd like that and keep it pure?
BTW, I wonder how much money he will make off of his herd now.
I.E., Rosie O'Donnell.
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