Research suggests that chickens could provide an inexpensive method of producing drugs

New research suggests that chickens may soon offer a cost-effective way to produce high-quality drugs for patients.

The animals have been genetically modified to produce human proteins in their eggs in hopes of being used for future scientific research.

However, the study at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh found that the drugs developed were just as effective as those produced using existing methods.

Three eggs were sufficient to obtain an adequate dosage, hens can lay up to 300 eggs per year.

Professor Helen Sang said: "We are not yet producing drugs for humans, but this study shows that chickens are commercially viable for the production of proteins suitable for drug discovery studies and other applications. in biotechnology. "

Eggs are already used to develop viruses used as vaccines, as in the flu vaccine.

But in this case, the chicken's DNA was encoded with proteins produced in the egg white – a human protein called IFNalpha2a, endowed with powerful antiviral and anticancer effects, as well as human versions and porcine of a protein called macrophage-CSF. .

Dr. Lissa Herron, Head of Avian Biophagy Commercial Unit at Roslin Technologies, said: "We are excited to develop this technology to its full potential, not only for human therapy in the future, but also in the fields of research and animal health. "

Ceri Lyn-Adams, Chief Science Officer at the Research Council on Biotechnology and Biological Sciences, added, "These recent results provide a promising proof of concept for future drug discovery and potential for more cost-effective drug development. based on proteins. "

The research is published in BMC Biotechnology.