MINSK, 26 October (BelTA) – In the future the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus intends to export human lactoferrin made out of transgenic goat milk. The information was released by Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) Vladimir Gusakov after a small-scale facility to extract human lactoferrin from transgenic goal milk was opened in Minsk on 26 October, BelTA has learned.

According to Vladimir Gusakov, Belarus will offer purified lactoferrin as well as pharmaceutical products and foods based on lactoferrin. The official described the production of human lactoferrin out of milk of transgenic goats as a breakthrough in world science. Belarus is the first country in the world to accomplish it, he said.

The head of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus explained that human lactoferrin is perfectly adapted to the human body and is designed by nature to bolster the immune system.

The cost of human lactoferrin made by Belarusian scientists is evaluated at $3,000-4,000 per gram.

The lab designed to extract, purify, and freeze-dry recombinant human lactoferrin out of goat milk was opened in the Microbiology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in Minsk on 26 October. Initially the facility is supposed to make at least 5kg of the targeted protein per annum. It will allow providing about 2,000 people with Belarus-made lactoferrin-containing food additives.

Lactoferrin is a unique polyfunctional protein found in human milk and milk of other mammals. Lactoferrin boasts antibacterial, antiviral, antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidative, and regenerative qualities with promising biopharmaceutical applications. This protein is used to make nutritional supplements, baby food, dietary supplements, pharmaceutical products, perfumery and cosmetics. The world's demand for lactoferrin is estimated at 90 tonnes per annum.