Register Log in  Scientific Method / Science & Exploration  Why
would a biotech company keep a secret herd of goats?  Many
antibodies get made in a surprising factory—animals.  These
happy looking goats would undoubtedly not run afoul of USDA
regulations.  The typical image of a modern biological research
lab involves high-tech machinery and table-sized microscopes; at
most, there might be some dishes of cells or a few mice floating
around. For people with those images in mind, yesterday's odd
report on how federal inspectors were surprised to find 841
goats at a California biotech facility they didn't even know
existed might come as a surprise. Why, you might wonder, would
Santa Cruz Biotechnology need a secret herd of goats at all?  As
it turns out, goats (along with rabbits and a handful of other
animals) play a key role in modern bioscience—but on the supply
side, not the research side. A paper found in a major science
journal might well have depended on a goat in some way; it's
just that the lab never sa