Scientists Make Bird-Flu-Resistant Chickens

WASHINGTON — Scientists have genetically engineered chickens that can't spread bird flu to their neighbors.

The experiment is a first step in exploring new ways to thwart a type of influenza that experts fear might one day spark a pandemic. But it would need lots of additional research to see if the resulting chickens and their eggs would be safe to eat.

A team led by the University of Cambridge bred chickens with a piece of DNA that produces what researchers dubbed a decoy molecule, which tricks and diverts an enzyme key to the flu virus' reproduction.

Then the team infected those chickens with bird flu and put them in cages with uninfected chickens. The infected birds still died, but they didn't spread bird flu to the other chickens.

The research was published in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

It's not an approach for wild birds that carry bird flu, but the researchers argue that breeding flu-resistant chickens could be valuable in warding off large die-offs of commercial flocks – and may provide more protection against evolving strains than attempts to vaccinate poultry.

Bird flu, known formally as H5N1 flu, occasionally infects people who have close contact with infected poultry. It is highly deadly when it does because the infection is so different from typical human influenza strains. The concern is that it might eventually evolve to spread easily among people.

Comments

[parags20]

01:14 AM on 03/01/2011

Bird droppings can contaminate dust, soil, water, feed, equipment, vehicles, clothing and shoes, which can lead to the spread of avian flu. The virus can also be carried on the feet and bodies of animals, which can cause the disease to spread.
http://www.biblehealth.com/bird-flu/causes-of-bird-flu.html

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

07:14 PM on 01/15/2011

Great! Franken chickens.

[nofriendofrepublicans]

03:10 PM on 01/14/2011

Buck buck buck buckaw. Translation, QUIT EATING US!

[IMOPINIONH8D]

07:17 PM on 01/15/2011

If humans didnt eat chickens they would all die off they would serve no purpose.

[nofriendofrepublicans]

07:36 PM on 01/15/2011

You work for Chic-filet?

[organicconnect]

11:44 AM on 01/14/2011

What came first? The FrankenChicken or the FrankenEgg? Seriously, I can't think of much worse solutions than GM foods. Of course, I've now been accused of having a political agenda of getting people to spend more money on food. I find this the height of comedy since it actually costs farmers less to produce organics. There's a great story of a farm that was literally dying and about to go out of business because "conventional" techniques were too expensive. You tell me what's more costly. http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/2010/12/engelbert-farms-organic-resurrection/

[Ramkshrestha]

09:03 AM on 01/14/2011

Although I am vegetarian, this is good news.

[StephenJK]

08:37 AM on 01/14/2011

This human experiment is getting ugly....fast. We think we can perfect nature to suit our selfish ends? We can't even control ourselves when it comes to procreating. Some of us like to have 10 kids or 30. This is what happens when you have too many mouths to feed. Inject them with this or that or rearrange their genetic structure to fix the problem. Never mind the root cause. Nothing we can do about that. God forbid we put a limit on the number of kids a family can have. Ridiculous.

[RichPort]

08:30 AM on 01/14/2011

How about making chickens that eat bugs and worms and walk around rather than being kenneled and force fed corn and antibiotics... how about we make that kind of chicken?

[JScott]

11:17 AM on 01/14/2011

Yeah, why fix what ain't broken.

Just an excuse by big ag to expand more confined farming methods so supposedly more food can be made cheaper, so folks can eat more not good for you fried chicken and McNuggets.
Watch small farmers go outta business with this or have to work for big ag and not themselves.
Just like RBGH they gave to dairy cows,

[IMOPINIONH8D]

07:33 PM on 01/15/2011

I'd say if the farmers could raise chickens that way and feed as many people as they do now, they would. I have a few chickens around and you would be surprized at the critters they attract, everything likes chicken.

[DawgBone3]

08:25 AM on 01/14/2011

Chickens have been dealt a tough hand in life.

Glad to see them getting a break ...

[cucumber]

05:47 PM on 01/14/2011

this isn't about them getting a break. This is so factory farmers can continue to cram them in confinement farms with impunity.

[benwha]

01:18 PM on 01/15/2011

Right so that production costs are low enough so Americans can continue paying nothing for their food so they can have high speed Internet and four iPods, high def tvs you know, the real essentials in life

[RichPort]

08:25 AM on 01/14/2011

Playing God is a dangerous endeavor to engage in...

[OliverTwist]

08:24 AM on 01/14/2011

Here's a related story about genetically selecting soldiers for the attributes:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/13/genetic-soldiers-advisory_n_808907.html#comments

[SitandStay]

07:01 AM on 01/14/2011

But will it be listed as an ingredient?

[UpBone]

05:33 AM on 01/14/2011

Just in time for Easter.

[cccoyote]

02:43 AM on 01/14/2011

Huh, no Monsanto brand on the bird?

What pandemic will the genetically modified chicken spread?
Or, will the chickens and their products only be for US consumption as are the growth hormones?
The rest of the world is wiser with their food sources.

[SitandStay]

07:07 AM on 01/14/2011

Lucky for the rest of the world we are not.......

Growth hormones that cause young girls to have menses when they are 9....PERFECT! 9 year old mothers! So wise and ready to impart their worldly wisdom, not to mention a life cut short by assigned servitude for the girl. Oh and lets cut the funding some more to ensure poverty and pregnancy for the "Mary's" of today and tomorrow.

[RichPort]

08:26 AM on 01/14/2011

That's the problem with making a super bird resistant to what we know about... it invites more virulent strains that we will be unprepared for.

[sabelmouse]

09:08 AM on 01/14/2011

I am just reading'' the wind up girl '' can't help making a connection.

[Uncle Bob]

01:43 AM on 01/14/2011

I know this is wasted text, but what the hey...

The genetic manipulation is of similar caliber of the manipulation humans have been doing over the last 10-40K years to all domestic animals and plants. It would be absurd to suggest it is "unnatural"....

On a similar note, less modified chickens are not more "natural", they have been utterly reshaped from what their non-human interacting ancestors were 50K years ago that it is irrelevant where you draw the line.

Nothing we eat, and I mean that literally.....every single item has been drasstically modified by human/artificial selection. There is no distinction between genetic manipulation and artificial selection. Exact same thing.

[judderwocky]

04:08 AM on 01/14/2011

your assumption "it is of the same caliber" is flawed. this is the first time in history that we have been introducing artificial mutations into the gene pool. it is true that we have altered chicken "evolution" however all genes and traits we were working with were either endemic to the original chicken genome or evolved through reproduction. we are now introducing sequences into the genome that could have many unforseen consequences. in the case of certain plant crops, varieties have been given immunity to certain types of herbicides with little or no longterm safety data on human consumption.

[Uncle Bob]

12:08 AM on 01/15/2011

How does the genome tell the difference between "artificial" mutations and....uh...."regular(?)" mutations?

Just typing that made me giggle.

[RichPort]

08:27 AM on 01/14/2011

I'd be surprised if 40,000 years ago humans had been modifying life on the genetic level, at least not intentionally...

[Uncle Bob]

12:00 AM on 01/15/2011

we were definitely modifying them on a genetic level, and why does it matter whether it was intentional?

[onionboy]

01:43 AM on 01/14/2011

The flu?? Chickens can't fly. I suspect fowl play. It probably requires multiple rooster shots.

And you know who profits form it all? Big farma...greedy mothercluckers.

[IMOPINIONH8D]

07:41 PM on 01/15/2011

Bawcbawcbawcyiiikes!!!!!