Genetically modified (GM) chickens could be used as a cheaper way to produce certain types of drugs compared to traditional manufacturing methods, research suggests.
Chicken egg
A team from The University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute used GM chickens to produce human proteins in their eggs. They were able to extract high quantities of the proteins by using a simple purification method. The method doesn’t harm the chickens, which continue to lay eggs as normal.
The researchers encoded therapeutic proteins into the chicken’s DNA which were then produced as part of the egg white.
Two proteins with therapeutic potential and that are essential to the immune system were used during the project. IFNalpha2a is a human protein with antiviral and anti-cancer effect and macrophage-CSF is a human and pig protein which is being developed as a therapy to help damaged tissues repair themselves.
Protein-based drugs are commonly used to treat cancer and other diseases but are produced using expensive manufacturing methods with low yields.
The team state that its new method is more cost-effective and efficient than previous attempts to produce proteins using genetically modified animals. The proteins were found to be just as effective as those produced using existing methods. The researchers hope that the method could be used as a cheaper way to develop high-quality protein-based drugs that could one day be used in humans.
Just three eggs were enough to produce a clinically relevant dose of the drug. Since chickens can lay 300 eggs a year, there is potential for the system to be used a new manufacturing method.
The team haven’t produced medicines for use in humans yet but the study suggests that the system works and could be adapted to produce other therapeutic proteins.