Chicken eggs could help combat cancer
Researchers at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, have announced the development of a new technique to genetically modify hens so they lay eggs that can be used as vectors for special proteins to fight cancer. The science has the potential to make certain drugs used to treat cancer more widely available and affordable, say the researchers. The Roslin researchers, famous for producing the cloned sheep 'Dolly', manipulated chicken DNA to encourage these proteins to grow in egg whites. Now they have joined forces with American biotechnology company Viragen to develop the chicken egg technology on a commercial basis.