Saturday, January 20, 2007

Cancer Fightin' Chickens


Cancer Fightin' Chickens!

The Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh, says it has produced five generations of birds that can produce useful levels of life-saving proteins in egg whites.

The work could lead to a range of drugs that are cheaper and easier to make.

Professor Harry Griffin, director of the institute, told the BBC: "One of the characteristics of lots of medical treatments these days is that they're very expensive.

"The idea of producing the proteins involved in treatments in flocks of laying hens means they can produce in bulk, they can produce cheaply and indeed the raw material for this production system is quite literally chicken feed."

Roslin has bred some 500 modified birds. Their existence is the result of more than 15 years' work by the lead scientist on the project, Dr Helen Sang.

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