Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
[FONT="]jan 24, 2019
'If we could prevent influenza virus crossing from wild birds into chickens, we would stop the next pandemic at source'[/FONT]
[FONT="]An attempt to create gene-edited chickens that are totally resistant to flu has been launched by scientists in a bid to avert the next global pandemic. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Knocking out genes that are vital for the virus as it infects a host could produce birds that act as an effective barrier between dangerous new strains developing in the wild and humans.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A massive outbreak of flu, which can be transmitted from other animals including birds is considered by experts one of the biggest dangers facing humanity.
(...............)[/FONT]
[FONT="]The first transgenic chicks that could stop a new form of bird flu before it reaches humans will be hatched later this year at the University of Edinburgh.[/FONT]
[FONT="]“If we could prevent influenza virus crossing from wild birds into chickens, we would stop the next pandemic at source,” said the project's leader Professor Wendy Barclay, a virologist at Imperial College London. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The project is based on previous work that found a gene present in chickens codes for a protein that flu viruses require to infect a host.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tests conducted in the laboratory found cells without this gene could not be penetrated by the viruses.[/FONT]
'If we could prevent influenza virus crossing from wild birds into chickens, we would stop the next pandemic at source'[/FONT]
[FONT="]An attempt to create gene-edited chickens that are totally resistant to flu has been launched by scientists in a bid to avert the next global pandemic. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Knocking out genes that are vital for the virus as it infects a host could produce birds that act as an effective barrier between dangerous new strains developing in the wild and humans.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A massive outbreak of flu, which can be transmitted from other animals including birds is considered by experts one of the biggest dangers facing humanity.
(...............)[/FONT]
[FONT="]The first transgenic chicks that could stop a new form of bird flu before it reaches humans will be hatched later this year at the University of Edinburgh.[/FONT]
[FONT="]“If we could prevent influenza virus crossing from wild birds into chickens, we would stop the next pandemic at source,” said the project's leader Professor Wendy Barclay, a virologist at Imperial College London. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The project is based on previous work that found a gene present in chickens codes for a protein that flu viruses require to infect a host.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tests conducted in the laboratory found cells without this gene could not be penetrated by the viruses.[/FONT]