aining ▁red ▁protein ▁in ▁b ov ine ▁milk ▁was ▁reported ▁as ▁early ▁as ▁in ▁ 1 9 3 9 ; ▁however , ▁the ▁protein ▁could ▁not ▁be ▁properly ▁character ized ▁because ▁it ▁could ▁not ▁be ▁extracted ▁with ▁sufficient ▁pur ity . ▁Its ▁first ▁detailed ▁studies ▁were ▁reported ▁around ▁ 1 9 6 0 . ▁They ▁documented ▁the ▁mole cular ▁weight , ▁is oe lect ric ▁point , ▁optical ▁absor ption ▁spect ra ▁and ▁presence ▁of ▁two ▁iron ▁atoms ▁per ▁protein ▁mole c ule . ▁The ▁protein ▁was ▁extracted ▁from ▁milk , ▁contained ▁iron ▁and ▁was ▁struct ur ally ▁and ▁chem ically ▁similar ▁to ▁ser um ▁transfer rin . ▁Therefore , ▁it ▁was ▁named ▁la ct o fer rin ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 1 , ▁though ▁the ▁name ▁la ct otr ans fer rin ▁was ▁used ▁in ▁some ▁earlier ▁publications , ▁and ▁later ▁studies ▁demonstrated ▁that ▁the ▁protein ▁is ▁not ▁restricted ▁to ▁milk . ▁The ▁ant ib acter ial ▁action ▁of ▁la ct o fer rin ▁was ▁also ▁documented ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 1 , ▁and ▁was ▁associated ▁with ▁its ▁ability ▁to ▁bind ▁iron . ▁ ▁Str ucture ▁ ▁Gen es ▁of ▁la ct o fer rin ▁At ▁least ▁ 6 0 ▁gene ▁sequences ▁of ▁la ct o fer rin ▁have ▁been ▁character ized ▁in ▁ 1 1 ▁species ▁of ▁m amm als . ▁In ▁most ▁species , ▁stop ▁cod on ▁is ▁T AA , ▁and ▁T GA ▁in ▁Mus ▁mus cul us . ▁De let ions , ▁insert ions ▁and ▁mut