Scientists have successfully created gene-edited chickens that are partially resistant to avian influenza, or bird flu. The research team identified three genes that are crucial for the bird flu virus to reproduce in chickens and then made two small changes to one of those genes using a gene-editing technique. While the birds still weren’t completely immune to the virus, they were partially resistant. The scientists say that their work shows it may be possible to block the bird flu virus altogether in just three years by making further changes to chickens’ DNA.
The researchers are currently trying to identify further genetic changes required to produce fully resistant chickens. However, critics of gene editing argue that the technology only tackles the symptoms of high-density farming rather than the root cause of the problem. They say it doesn’t address poor animal welfare conditions that can often cause animal diseases in the first place.
Nevertheless, Professor Helen Sang from the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute says the team’s results are very encouraging, and they want to take this approach further. Gene editing involves making precise changes to DNA to change the function of a gene. In this case, to create the resistant chickens, the three crucial genes were altered to stop them from helping bird flu reproduce.
The World Health Organization says that bird flu is a major global threat, with a devastating impact on both farmed and wild bird populations. In the UK alone, the current outbreak of H5N1 bird flu has cost the poultry industry more than £100 million in losses and decimated seabird populations. If mutations in the bird flu virus allow it to infect people, it can cause serious illness
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