GM against bird flu

Genetically modified chickens with a decoy molecule could prevent the spread of avian flu to other birds and improve economic and food security.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge introduced a new gene that manufactures a small decoy molecule – as short length of RNA – to produce bird flu resistant chickens.

“The decoy mimics an essential part of the flu virus genome that is identical for all strains of influenza A,” said Dr Laurence Tiley, a senior lecturer in Virology. “The replication machinery of the virus is tricked into recognising the decoy molecule instead of the viral genome and this interferes with the replication of the virus.”

The decoy is expected to work against all strains of bird flu and will not need updating for each session.

“The virus will find it difficult to evolve to escape the virus,” Tiley said. “This is quite different from conventional flu vaccines, which need to be updated in the face of virus evolution as they tend only to protect against closely matching strains of the virus and do one always prevent spread within a flock.”

Chickens act as a bridging host, enabling new strains of flu to reach humans, and preventing virus transmission in chickens should not only protect the health of the bird, but also reduce the risk posed to humans exposed to infected birds.

Meat production and consumption is increasing worldwide, and poultry makes up a significant proportion of this increase.

“Infectious disease of livestock represents a significant threat to global food security,” said Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC chief executive.

“This work could form the basis for improving economic and food security in many regions of the world where bird flu is a significant problem,” said Professor Helen Sang from The Roslin Institute, who was also involved in the research.