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Velvet In Vitro

MAF Invermay scientists have achieved a world first by successfully cloning deer velvet cells. This may lead to breakthroughs in both cancer research and the deer industry.

Scientists have known for many years that deer velvet can be thought of as an organised tumour. The difference between the velvet tumour and an ordinary tumour is that deer velvet stops growing.

If this self-limiting growth factor can be identified, it is possible that it could be isolated and applied to a human cancer to stop it growing. Understanding how the factor works may also enable the deer industry to increase the production of deer velvet.

The technological breakthrough by Dr Jimmie Suttie and Dr Mehri Sadighi brings both of these goals a step closer. Suttie is confident that the growth factor will be isolated in the next few years. Cancer scientists can then be brought in to expand this new field of research.

Suttie and Sadighi are also using the cloned cells to look for other bioactive compounds useful to the deer industry. Suttie notes that growing the cells in tissue culture was preferable to setting up live animal testing. In Japan, antler velvet extract has been injected into mice to test biological effects, but this wasn't considered ethical or economic by the Invermay team.

Claire Grant, MAF Invermay