MontyPython Lives: beat flu with genetically modified chickens - World - Times Online

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'killing two birds with one stone'...

 

 

The Times October 29, 2005

 

Scientists aim to beat flu with genetically modified chickens

By Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent

 

 

THE long-term threat of an avian flu pandemic could be greatly reduced

by a project to produce genetically modified chickens that can resist

lethal strains of the virus.

 

British scientists are genetically engineering chickens to protect them

against the H5N1 virus that has devastated poultry farms in the Far

East, with a view to replacing stocks with birds that are not

susceptible to influenza.

 

The technique should also offer protection against many other strains of

flu with the potential to start a human pandemic, such as the H7

subgroup that was responsible for an outbreak in Dutch poultry in 2003.

 

If chicken populations were to be replaced with transgenic birds that

were resistant to flu, it would remove a reservoir of the virus and make

it much harder for it to spread to humans and trigger a pandemic.

 

The team, led by Laurence Tiley, Professor of Molecular Virology at

Cambridge University, and Helen Sang, of the Roslin Institute, near

Edinburgh, has already shown that chicken cells can be protected against

flu by inserting small pieces of genetic material.

 

The researchers are now ready to begin a similar procedure with eggs and

the first experiments are expected within weeks. Any breakthrough,

however, will come too late to have an impact on the present outbreak of

H5N1.

 

Even if the technique works, it will be several years before it can be

used to stock farms and it also faces important regulatory hurdles and a

battle to win over public opinion. If these obstacles are overcome and

farmers are willing to adopt GM chickens, the entire world stock could

be replaced fairly quickly.

 

“Once we have regulatory approval, we believe it will only take between

four and five years to breed enough chickens to replace the entire world

population,” Professor Tiley said. “Developing flu-resistant chickens

has clear benefits for human health and animal welfare, as we wouldn’t

have to slaughter chickens around the world. Chickens provide a link

between the wild bird population, where avian influenza thrives, and

humans, where new pandemic strains can emerge. Removing that bridge will

dramatically reduce the risk posed by avian viruses.”

 

The research team is following three parallel approaches. One involves

inserting a working copy of a gene that makes an antiviral protein

called Mx, which is defective in many chicken breeds, and should improve

their ability to fight off H5N1 and other strains.

 

The second approach is to harness a technique called RNA interference,

in which small fragments of the genetic signalling chemical RNA are used

to disrupt the workings of the flu virus.

 

By engineering chicken cells to make small RNA molecules that confuse

the flu virus, the scientists hope to confer resistance to a wide

variety of strains. The third strategy is similar to the second, but

involves using RNA molecules as decoys, which trick the flu virus into

copying them rather than itself. All three could potentially be

incorporated in the same GM chickens.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25149-1847760,00.html

Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd.