Modifying a protein in chicken cells can help the birds resist infection by influenza viruses, but further testing is needed before this approach can be rolled out
, suggesting a possible way to protect flocks from future outbreaks. But years of further testing and regulatory approval are needed before gene-edited birds can be farmed for consumption.
As a result, countries including Mexico, France and Ecuador have recently joined China in vaccinating poultry against bird flu. But the US and UK have decided against this strategy, partly due to concerns that current vaccines don’t provide full protection against the circulating strains and would lead to resistant forms of the virus evolving.at the University of Bristol, UK, and his colleagues have now tested whether gene editing can be used to protect chickens from the virus.
The researchers then showed that editing the genes for all three proteins together completely prevents virus replication in chicken cells. “We are planning to genetically edit chickens to target all three genes, which we think will be needed to make birds completely resistant to bird flu,” says Idoko-Akoh. “We’re aiming for complete protection to avoid the emergence of viruses resistant to the gene edits.
“Rolling out the technology will be pretty expensive, and that may create an issue in terms of access in places like Africa and Asia where some of the greatest risk for bird flu exists,” he says.Culturally sensitive discussions about the technology will be necessary to find out what people find acceptable in terms of food production, says Idoko-Akoh.
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