The Associated Press
P L A T T S B U R G H, N. Y., June 18 — About 150 goats that have been bred with a spider gene are to be housed on 60 acres of a former Air Force base here.
     Montreal-based Nexia Biotechnologies, Inc., plans for the goats to arrive Tuesday. The company said up to 1,500 genetically-altered goats may eventually live there. Fifteen weapons-storage buildings were converted — by adding light and feeding water lines — into animal holding pens for the project.
     “We feel the site ... is a real adequate site and is in a very secure setting,” Isabelle Trombley-Summers, Nexia site director of agricultural affairs, told the Plattsburgh Press-Republican.
     The goats have been bred with a spider gene so their milk provides a unique protein. The company then plans to extract the protein from the milk to produce fibers — called BioSteel — for bulletproof vests, aerospace and medical supplies.
     Spider silk has a unique combination of strength and elasticity with an ultra-lightweight fiber.

Spinning a Profitable Web
Last year, Nexia obtained the exclusive right to patents resulting from spider silk research at the University of Wyoming. The agreement included an up front payment for the university, funding for research and development expenses plus royalties on the sale of silk-based products.
     In January, Nexia announced the birth of two “BioSteel goats.”
     Initially, Trombley-Summers said, Nexia will have a conventional breeding facility at the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corp. site, with bunkers housing both male and female goats. About five people will be employed there.
     The goats will usually remain in pens and the building will be fenced into separate areas that allow them to exercise and go outside for light, Trombley-Summers said.
     Trombley-Summers assured Plattsburgh’s Town Planning Board that they will maintain high environmental standards at the facility and have spoken with the State Department of Environmental Conservation about the operation.
     “There’s no problem with that,” Codes Enforcement Officer Donald Lee said of environmental and health standards.
     He said there’s enough room to spread goat manure, and the goats won’t be near the Saranac River or any streams.
     State DEC officials did not return calls placed over the weekend.

Visit the Eagle 1 Observer
"Observing the World Around You"
http://www.crayon.net/read.cgi?[EMAIL PROTECTED]

" I believe that every individual is naturally entitled to do as
he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as
it in no way interferes with any other men's rights." - Abraham Lincoln

aquadot.gif

spacer.gif

[CTRL] new meaning for the word 'web'

Reply via email to