Franken-birds

Scientists Test New Genetically Modified Chicken That Can't Transmit Bird Flu

I remember when the warnings about bird flu first came out. If you found a dead bird in your front yard, you were told to stay clear for fear of the disease spreading. And while the avian flu may currently be overshadowed by such delicious food borne diseases as Mad Cow, salmonella, and e coli, it most certainly remains a threat in the back of many a poultry eater's mind. But recently, British scientists have started testing transgenic cluckers that can't transmit bird flu.


Birds that have the disease can still get sick and die as a result, but even still, the disease won't spread to other birds. While vaccinations have been used to keep the deadly disease at bay, the problem is that while the vaccinated birds may not develop the flu, the virus can still travel from bird to bird and then onto humans in some cases.


According to Popsci,


The chickens were modified to express a piece of RNA that acts as a decoy to a key viral enzyme. The polymerase is tricked into binding to this RNA, rather than binding to the virus‘ genome and helping it replicate. The result is that the virus does not spread to other chickens.


In the US, much of our GMO crops were modified to create resistance, for example, Monsanto's Round Up Ready Seeds. But their resistance comes at a price. The Roundup Ready seeds immunize plants against Roundup, which is a powerful herbicide also made by Monsanto. I wrote over at TreeHugger about how this corners farmers. Farmers can then readily apply Roundup to kill everything but the immunized seeds. Once the seeds are planted, farmers have to come back to Monsanto for more because the powerful herbicide has basically killed everything in its path along with causing soil erosion, nitrate leeching, and water contamination.


That's not to say that the side effects of GMO animals have been determined because we're still quite a ways off, though this isn't the first creation of its kind. Christine over at TreeHugger wrote that Canada has approved limited production of animals dubbed "enviropigs™," pigs that are modified to produce 65 percent less phosphorous in their poop and urine.

Gmo crops, GMO chicken... What's next? Chickie Nobs?