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ORF Genetics

ORF Genetics – what you should know

While we grapple with a pandemic and the only thing that has really managed to bring some winter cheer into our lives is the news of the successful trial of several vaccines in some countries, one really wonders how far science has gone. And if there is one way to end 2020, it would be by expressing a little gratitude to all the scientists across the world who are toiling day in and day out battling failure and fund cuts with the only hope that one day their passion projects would help humanity. Genetics, which falls within the arena of biotechnology, is seen as one of the most complicated yet relevant science in the world that we live in today. In case you’re wondering how far the knowledge of this specialized branch pf science can take us, read on to know.

ORF Genetics

ORF GeneticsLimited is a privately owned company located in Iceland. ORF Genetics is committed to developing innovative, economically viable and enabling solutions for the production of recombinant proteins in a more efficient and safer manner than other protein expression systems.

Orfeus and its Utility

Founded by two genetic scientists, ORF GeneticsLtd. has developed the unique expression system Orfeus™, that uses barley grain as a vehicle for recombinant protein production.Orfeus™ has been found to be particularly effective in the expression of growth factors and cytokines. Efforts involved in expressing growth factors and cytokines in Orfeus™ have resulted in an extensive portfolio of these type of proteins and has enabledORF Geneticsto launch two distinctive growth factor or cytokine-based products in the market. Among these, thefirst wasin the stem cell research market in 2007 and the second wasin the skin care market in 2008. These product lines are now distributed in over 20 countries around the world and are still only growing in both popularity as well as geographical distribution.The in-house researchers of ORF Genetics Ltd. has claimed that Orfeus has been continuously surprising ORF’s researchers with its stunning abilities to produce a large and equally diverse number of proteins that can be applied in different markets. The two latest projects of ORF dependent on Orfeus are, for example, based on its ability to produce significant amounts of a new tastemanagement protein and a group of diverse ice-structuring proteins which can be applied in various different industries such as food, pharmaceutical, cell-research and safety of oilprocessing.

The Invention of BIOEFFECT

A very unique innovation of ORF Genetics Limited has been a product and now a company on its own under the umbrella of ORF that has been named ‘BIOEFFECT’. This product was founded when ORF’s scientists discovered a way to bio-engineer a plant-based replica of EGF, a naturally occurring human protein, in barley. BIOEFFECT became the first company to produce a portfolio of human growth factors in plants, specifically barley. When companies in the United States of America, South Korea and Japan was putting growth factors in skincare products using the E. coli bacteria or human tissue as a growth medium, BIOEFFECT saw in it an opportunity to use the uniquely pure, natural and most importantly harmless barley-grown growth factors. In stark contrast to other skincare companies, these growth factors carried absolutely no risk of human-transmitted diseases or bacterial endotoxins, unlike those companies that grow it in E. coli or in human cells.Since the launch of BIOEFFECT in 2010, it has been used by over 30% of Icelandic women and continues to be a cause of wonder among its users, irrespective of age, gender, race, or skin colour.

Genetics can be a boon or a curse to mankind depending on how we use it. The knowledge that can destroy an entire race through biological warfare can also save lives. The choice of which side to be on is for us to make.