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EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE TO COMBAT
DISEASE
Katherine Knight, Ph.D., chairwoman of microbiology and immunology, conducts research aimed at uncovering the basic mechanisms of how the body resists illness. Funded by the National Institutes of Health for more than 25 years, Knight’s research is moving medical science toward a future in which medicine will be devoted to preventing disease instead of treating it.
In their research, Knight and her colleagues are creating transgenic rabbits by introducing the genes for human antibodies into rabbits. These transgenic rabbits express the gene and begin to manufacture human antibodies. As a result, transgenic rabbits are excellent models for studying the basic mechanisms of the human immune system, as well as
a potential source for manufacturing new human antibodies that are vital to saving people’s lives.
Currently, some forms of leukemia and autoimmune diseases, in which the body’s natural defense system turns against itself and attacks the body, are treated with antibodies that are derived from mice. However, patients eventually develop an immunity to mice antibodies and the treatment no longer works. Theoretically, human antibodies manufactured by transgenic rabbits could be used to replace mouse antibodies. Because the antibodies are of human origin, they could be used for long-term treatment because patients would not develop an immunity to them.
Transgenic animals also could become a source for vaccines for many diseases that currently have no cure. Today, as Loyola research scientists unlock the secrets of the immune system, they are laying the groundwork for important breakthroughs that will save lives.
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