Test tubes labelled "Bird Flu" and eggs are seen in this picture illustration, January 14, 2023. Flu viruses hijack proteins like ANP32 inside cells to help themselves replicate, and the edits in chickens were designed to stop the growth of bird flu. However, they have not bred chickens with three edits yet, said Helen Sang, who previously studied genetically modifying chickens against bird flu at the University of Edinburgh. Unlike genetic modification, which introduces foreign genes, gene editing alters existing genes. The technology is considered to be less controversial than genetic modification and is more lightly regulated in some countries.

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Persons: Dado Ruvic, Wendy Barclay, Barclay, Helen Sang, Sang, Tom Polansek, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Imperial College of London, Nature Communications, University of Edinburgh, European Union, Thomson Locations: Britain, France, U.S