Professor Peter Roepstorff, Department of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology at The University of Southern Denmark and his team have mapped the protein
of the Castor oil plants beans. The
plants’ fatty beans are presently refined into biodiesel in foreign
countries. The mapping of the bean’s
proteins and altering the bean’s structure in order for the extracted pulp to
be used for animal feed does not appear to be feasible because of the allergens
and potent poison ricin it contains. Thus, the use of the extracted bean pulp
cannot be used for animal feed. The animals
would get sick or die so the scientists want to find a way to eliminate the
ricin and allergenic qualities from the bean.
Scientists used proteomics to map 1875 castor
bean proteins to find out if in some way it would be possible to eliminate the
allergenic proteins and the ricin from the beans. The mapping enabled the
scientists to know where and when the proteins are produced in their
development. The
lowest levels of protein ricin and the allergen 2S Albumin are only
present in the early development of the plant. So far, there has not
been a way to eliminate these toxic proteins and use the pulp for animal feed
because it is not cost effective for oil producers to only harvest immature
plants.
In my opinion, the challenge now is to remove the toxic allergenic
substances by genetic engineering or eliminating the unwanted proteins by plant
breeding. If successful, the
possibilities are endless, but man should tread cautiously and be aware of the
results of genetic manipulation to the environment and mankind. The damage may be too great!
