Posted by Marina on October 16, 1997 at 10:53:57:
In Reply to: Porcine Virus posted by SJSANTEN on October 16, 1997 at 08:16:09:
While I don't doubt this is true, why wasn't this a concern when, for decades, diabetics routinely injected pork insulin into their bodies? Is this potential viral threat only true for cells and not for products produced from cells?
Also, this may not be related but E. coli has the potential to be very deadly in humans if ingested or injected yet this is how humulin insulins are produced. If they are able to purify the humulin insulin from E. coli before selling it, why can't porcine cells be purified from their viruses before using them?
I know I'm probably being very simplistic here but this does not seem to be an insurmountable problem. Then again, I would like to learn more about this.
Marina