According to a biotechnology concept validation study published on the 10th in Nature Communications, scientists have successfully developed chickens with partial resistance to avian influenza using gene editing technology. This study proposes a potential strategy to help reduce the spread of avian influenza from wild birds to farmed poultry. Avian influenza is widely spread in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, posing a threat to wild birds, causing economic losses to poultry farmers, and posing risks to human health. There is currently no reliable avian influenza vaccine for poultry use, mainly due to the rapid drift of virus antigens in the wild. In chickens, the life cycle of avian influenza relies on a host protein ANP32A, which provides a potential target for creating antiviral birds. A research team, including the University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London, edited the ANP32A gene in chicken germ cells to limit the activity of influenza A. They found that chickens that have fully grown from this have resistance to physiological doses of influenza A from other infected birds and are more resilient. However, genetically edited chickens have no resistance to doses greater than 1000 times. After more than two years of monitoring, the health or egg laying rate of these chickens have not been affected by any adverse effects. The research team proposes that further editing and deletion of other related genes (ANP32B and ANP32E) will prevent virus replication. This latest result suggests that gene editing is a possible way to cultivate avian influenza resistant chickens. However, the team also pointed out that further research is needed to ensure that animal health is not affected, and multiple edits to the ANP32 family genes may be required to eliminate the possibility of virus evolution. (New News Agency)