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Armin Spök

Publications and source records attributed to Armin Spök.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Molecular farming on the rise--GMO regulators still walking a tightrope.

Recent increases in EU commercial and academic activities in molecular farming, and the proximity to market-stage of the first plant-made pharmaceuticals, represent a call to action for EU regulators. Drawing on the North American debate on molecular farming, it will be argued that both the rationale and the risks of molecular farming will differ significantly from those of first generation GM crops. Based on these differences, the suitability of the existing regulatory frameworks, which were developed in response to the arrival of earlier products, is discussed, and specific options for adapting the already complex EU regulatory system to cater for molecular farming are examined.

Biotechnology↗
PubMed2005

Suggestions for the assessment of the allergenic potential of genetically modified organisms.

The prevalence of allergic diseases has been increasing continuously and, accordingly, there is a great desire to evaluate the allergenic potential of components in our daily environment (e.g., food). Although there is almost no scientific evidence that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) exhibit increased allergenicity compared with the corresponding wild type significant concerns have been raised regarding this matter. In principle, it is possible that the allergenic potential of GMOs may be increased due to the introduction of potential foreign allergens, to potentially upregulated expression of allergenic components caused by the modification of the wild type organism or to different means of exposure. According to the current practice, the proteins to be introduced into a GMO are evaluated for their physiochemical properties, sequence homology with known allergens and occasionally regarding their allergenic activity. We discuss why these current rules and procedures cannot predict or exclude the allergenicity of a given GMO with certainty. As an alternative we suggest to improve the current evaluation by an experimental comparison of the wild-type organism with the whole GMO regarding their potential to elicit reactions in allergic individuals and to induce de novo sensitizations. We also recommend that the suggested assessment procedures be equally applied to GMOs as well as to natural cultivars in order to establish effective measures for allergy prevention.

Allergens↗