A chicken gm unable to transmit the avian influenza virus. A change has been researchers at the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh (United Kingdom), which shows the results of their study in Science. According to British researchers, the creation of a chicken immune to viral transmission could help reduce the risk of new outbreaks in poultry and also, indirectly, in the human population.
Avian influenza, which we often heard in recent years, commonly affects wild birds, and occasionally it may concern even the flocks of poultry. Here, given the conditions in which animals live (the proximity of the cages, for example), the pathogen can spread very quickly.
Chicken changed in the United Kingdom, by contrast, seems able to block the virus HPAI H5N1, a subtype of the causative agent of avian influenza is particularly dangerous. To achieve this, the researchers inserted the DNA of birds have a gene that encodes for an RNA decoy, a molecule that acts as a lure: cheat the system replication of the virus, preventing proper operation. As a result, a chicken that gets infected by the flu virus develops and dies, but can not transmit the disease to other birds with which it comes into contact, whether transgenic or not. The 'bait' is also designed to work against all strains of avian influenza.
"The genetic modification that we have included in chickens is a first step towards the development of animals that are completely resistant to avian influenza," said Laurence Tiley, University of Cambridge, one of the authors: "Preventing the transmission of the virus would help to reduce the economic impact of the disease and the risk to humans. Although, it is well to note that GM animals are intended for research and non-food consumption. "
Source: www.galileonet.it / articles
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