A team of scientists from Scotland have recently engineered special kind of chicken, which lays eggs with disease-treating properties.
Previous studies have already made cows, sheep, and goats that pump out protein drugs in their milk, but recent researches carried out by Edinburgh's Roslin Institute claim chickens are a better choice due to their low costs, less acquirement of room, and faster growth.
The team of researchers changed chickens' DNA so that the birds' cells made two protein drugs. One drug can treat skin cancer, and the other can treat a nerve disease called Multiple Sclerosis.
The chickens' DNA were altered so that the birds made these drugs only in their egg whites, making it easier for scientists to collect the drugs while protecting the chickens' bodies from the drugs' possible harmful effects.
These chickens can pass on their drug-laying abilities to their chicks. So far, the Scottish researchers have bred five generations of drug-producing birds.
