Researchers at the Roslin Institute have successfully managed to produce three generations of genetically modified chicken, with the amazing ability to lay eggs with relatively high percentage of protein used to make cancer fighting drugs, from a single transgenic cockerel. These genetically modified chickens could be the “drug factories” of the future. It has a huge potential to mass produce not just cancer fighting proteins and drugs but other pharmaceutical proteins at the cost of literally chicken feeds.
Infectious anemia virus was used as the vector, with all of its viral coding sequences deleted and replaced with genes that produce the miR24, which is a type of antibody that has the potential to treat malignant melanoma. The vector used is tissue specific, due to the utilization of regulatory sequences, and is aimed at the oviduct of the laying hens. The cockerel was hatched after the injection of the vector and was mated with numerous hens to produce transgenic progenies. These engineered hens produce eggs with the specified proteins in the egg white, which can be easily extracted, purified and made into cancer fighting drugs. The genetically modified chickens have a relatively high ability to produce transgenic offspring, hence making it commercially viable.
However, there are many ethical issues related with genetically modified animals and their products, which needs to be resolved.
By David Zhang
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Bibliography:
- Primary source: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/104/6/1771?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=helen+sang&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
- Secondary source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/6261427.stm
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