Scientists Produce Gene-Edited Chickens to Stop Spread of Flu Virus

Scientists Produce Gene¹-Edited Chickens to Stop Spread of Flu Virus

British scientists are developing gene-edited chickens designed to be fully² resistant³ to the influenza⁴, or flu virus.

Wendy Barclay is one of the leaders of the gene-editing project. She is a professor of virology at Imperial College London. She said the first chickens will be born later this year at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

The scientists are using a new gene-editing technology known as CRISPR to change the birds’ DNA⁵. The scientists removed parts of a protein on which the flu virus normally depends. That makes the chickens completely flu-resistant.

Barclay said the idea is to produce birds that cannot get the flu and would form, in her words, a “buffer⁶ between wild birds and humans.”

Health experts say the threat of a human flu pandemic is one of their biggest concerns.

About 500,000 people died worldwide in the last large flu outbreak in 2009 and 2010. The historic 1918 Spanish flu killed around 50 million people.

The greatest fear now is that a deadly form of flu could spread from wild birds into poultry⁷ and then into humans. The virus could then become an airborne form that can pass easily between people.

“If we could prevent influenza virus crossing from wild birds into chickens, we would stop the next pandemic…” said Barclay.

Barclay’s team of scientists published their research in the journal Nature in 2016. They found that a gene present in chickens makes a protein that all flu viruses depend on to infect a host. Tests of cells created to not have the gene showed they cannot be infected with flu.

Barclay said the plan is to use CRISPR to edit the chickens’ DNA so that only one part of the protein is changed. The rest of the bird would be exactly the same as it was before.

Barclay said poultry producers may have concerns about the public’s opinions of gene-edited food. She said that people have been eating food from farmed animals that have been changed over many years by traditional breeding.

But she added, “They might be nervous about eating gene-edited food.”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in this Story

pandemic – n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world

poultry – n. birds such as chickens and ducks that are raised on farms for their eggs or meat

buffer – n. something that gives protection by separating things; a protective barrier

journal – n. a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group of people

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

4 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

5 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

6 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

7 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?