Scientists from the
Roslin Institute,
Edinburgh, have created the first ever genetically modified hen
which is capable of laying eggs that could be used to fight cancer
and other diseases.
By adding human genes to the chicken’s DNA, the team has created
a transgenic bird that lays eggs containing medicinal proteins in
the whites of the egg. The institute has created a number of
different poultry lines, with each one producing different
antibodies and proteins that could fight multiple sclerosis, cancer
or arthritis.
Working alongside two companies,
Oxford Biomedica and
Viragen, Helen Sang, the
project’s leader, has now bred five generations of the genetically
modified ISA Browns, successfully passing the human genes across
each generation. Up to this point, genes were lost after a
generation or two.
Dr Sang told Farmers Weekly: “Our long term vision is to have
poultry units set up specifically to house transgenic hens laying
eggs carrying therapeutic proteins. It is likely that the hens
would be housed under specific pathogen free conditions so they
would be more sophisticated than standard units.”
The main benefit of this scientific development is that the
flocks would allow the mass production of drugs at a fraction of
the current cost.
A spokesperson for the
Multiple Sclerosis
Society said: “This is an intriguing development and anything
that has the potential to cut drug costs will be welcome in the
current NHS financial
climate. The challenge for researchers will, however, be realising
this potential and turning this work into properly trialled
treatments that can be used in humans.”
While Herbie Newell, director of translational research at
Cancer Research UK,
added: "Anything that allows us to expedite the number of novel
therapeutics that we can offer cancer patients must be
welcomed."
Scientists from the Roslin Institute, famous for the cloned
sheep Dolly in 1997, published its research earlier this week in
the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
