Scientists have made chickens stronger with genetic editing

Scientists from the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences made chickens healthier in terms of health when

assisted by genome editing. Birds of the new breed are not afraid of the leukemia virus.

For their work, the researchers used genomicCRISPR/Cas9 editor. Previously, they had been studying avian leukemia virus (ALV) for many years. Its danger is that the virus causes the development of cancerous tumors in chickens. Recently, a new outbreak of the disease among poultry has emerged in China and Southeast Asia.

First, scientists edited germ cells extracted from the bodies of roosters. Then they returned them back to the birds, and they continued the race, producing offspring with altered DNA.

After editing one gene - chNHE1 - scientists tried to infect the birds with the virus, but they turned out to be absolutely resistant to it.