by Keith Good, University of Illinois FarmDoc project
Emily Anthes reported on the front page of today’s New York Times that, “Scientists have used the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR to create chickens that have some resistance to avian influenza, according to a new study that was published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday.
Today’s article explained that, “Many nations have tried to stamp out the virus by increasing biosecurity on farms, quarantining infected premises and culling infected flocks. But the virus has become so widespread in wild birds that it has proved impossible to contain, and some nations have begun vaccinating poultry, although that endeavor presents some logistic and economic challenges.
“If scientists could engineer resistance into chickens, farmers would not need to routinely vaccinate new batches of birds. Gene editing ‘promises a new way to make permanent changes in the disease resistance of an animal,’ Mike McGrew, an embryologist at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute and an author of the new study, said at the briefing. ‘This can be passed down through all the gene-edited animals, to all the offspring.'”
To read the entire report click here.
