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Feb 14, 20223 min read

Bird-Flu Resistant Chickens

Written by Joshua Ng

Edited by Angus Yip


(https://ipdefenseforum.com/2020/03/scientists-edit-chicken-genes-to-make-them-resistant-to-bird-flu/)


Bird flu infections amongst chicken farms can be an immense issue as the disease are able to cause a 100% mortality rate in domestic chickens, posing a great threat to the poultry industry. There have been numerous huge outbreaks that resulted in a massive loss of chickens. For example, in Asia, more than 20 million chickens have been killed as a result of the bird flu in South Korea and Japan since November 2020. India, the world’s 6th largest chicken producer, also suffered major bird flu outbreaks in its farms in at least 5 states. From the statistics shown, it is obvious that mass chicken death caused by the bird flu brings financial and economical issues to both society and the poultry industry.


Fortunately, scientists have been able to come up with a solution to tackle this problem: bird flu resistant chickens. With gene-editing techniques, researchers have been able to delete a section of DNA that is responsible for producing ANP32A, a molecule flu viruses use to replicate themselves inside the chicken cells.


So what is the biotechnology behind this? Using CRISPR gene editing, a technique used in molecular biology to modify a gene of the genomes of living organisms, researchers produce bird flu resistant chickens by first creating a “guide DNA”, a sequence that stores the same information as the sequence of DNA in the chicken cell that produces ANP32A. This guide DNA is then added to a protein called Cas9, an enzyme that acts as a pair of scissors. After the guide DNA binds itself with the target DNA, the Cas9 disrupts the gene by removing it. Finally, a replacement gene, one that doesn’t contain ANP32A, is added back into the sequence. And just like that, a bird flu resistant chicken is produced.


This technology allows chickens and other poultry birds to be completely immune to the bird flu, which prevents a huge loss of profit for poultry farms and factories. Although it hasn’t been scientifically proven with data and statistics, multiple researchers from various universities stated that the modified chickens grown in labs had no signs of disease even when given high doses of bird flu viruses. This shows that the invention indeed is effective in preventing bird flu infections.


One of the negative ethical implications caused by this biotechnology is that genetically modified animals run the risk of being in harm. With new genes, animals might have trouble adapting or even surviving as the new genes inserted will affect the genetic makeup of the animals. For example, pigs inserted with human hormones to allows them to grow faster were found to be arthritic, partially blind, and infertile. Moreover, many embryos undergoing genetic engineering do not survive as they are exposed to an unsafe environment. Even though it hasn’t been proven that the bird flu resistant chickens are being harmed after genetic modifications, these ethical issues still raise many questions.


In summary, with the biotechnology of CRISPR gene editing, scientists have been able to allow chickens to be resistant to bird flu, thus reducing the loss of profits by poultry farms. Although genetically engineered chickens have raised many ethical questions, DNA modifications have come to be a great technology for tackling bird flu outbreaks amongst farms and factories.





  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Avian Influenza in Birds.


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