Scientists say it's time to let GM genie out of the bottle
4:00AM Saturday Nov 29, 2008
By Chris Barton
John Lowenthal is praising chickens - in particular the broiler variety which takes just 42 days to grow from egg to maturity. The extraordinary bird, bred to grow big, fast and plump for our dinner tables, could undoubtedly play a significant role in fighting world hunger.
Especially because the Australian scientist and his CSIRO research team at the high security Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Victoria may just have the technology to breed an avian flu-resistant chicken.
It's early days, he tells his audience at last week's 10th International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms in Wellington.
But the proof of concept project signals the cutting edge of genetic modification - gene silencing to create a resistance to viral infection which is then integrated into DNA, so it's passed on in future generations through normal breeding.
If it works, the avian influenza virus - which in its H5N1 strain has led to 240 reported human deaths in 15 countries - could be stopped in its tracks.
Full story:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/science/news/article.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10545575&pnum=0
4:00AM Saturday Nov 29, 2008
By Chris Barton
John Lowenthal is praising chickens - in particular the broiler variety which takes just 42 days to grow from egg to maturity. The extraordinary bird, bred to grow big, fast and plump for our dinner tables, could undoubtedly play a significant role in fighting world hunger.
Especially because the Australian scientist and his CSIRO research team at the high security Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Victoria may just have the technology to breed an avian flu-resistant chicken.
It's early days, he tells his audience at last week's 10th International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms in Wellington.
But the proof of concept project signals the cutting edge of genetic modification - gene silencing to create a resistance to viral infection which is then integrated into DNA, so it's passed on in future generations through normal breeding.
If it works, the avian influenza virus - which in its H5N1 strain has led to 240 reported human deaths in 15 countries - could be stopped in its tracks.
Full story:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/science/news/article.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10545575&pnum=0