Scientists Gene Edit Hens To Lay Eggs That Can Stop Developing Into Male Embryos

The mass killing of male chickens may soon be a thing of the past because scientists claim they can stop male embryos from developing.

Billions of chickens are killed each year due to the fact that male chickens don't lay eggs and are less valuable than females. Farmers could avoid killing male chickens if they could avoid hatching male chickens more frequently.

The leader of the research is Yuval Cinnamon of the Volcani Institute. The "Golda Hens", as he calls them, will be a boon for chicken welfare around the world, according to Cinnamon.

"For the benefit of the chickens, but also for all of us, because this is an issue that affects every person on the planet, I am very happy that we have developed a system that can trulyrevolutionizing the industry," he said.

In a nutshell, female chickens have one W and one Z chromosomes. The males have two Z chromosomes.

Farmers can blast the egg embryo with blue light for a few hours if they want to stop the male embryo from developing.

The embryo won't be affected since it takes the unedited W and Z chromosomes from its mother and father.

"Consumers will get the same eggs they get today and farmers will get the same chickens they get today," said Cinnamon. Eggs will be exposed to blue light in the production process.

Cinnamon and his team are planning to license their technology. healthy skepticism of their claims wouldn't be unwarranted because it hasn't been looked at by an outside team.

The scientists have been shadowed by the British animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming, which has backed the validity of the breakthrough.

He told the radio station that he is wary of using gene editing on farm animals. This is an exceptional case and I and my colleagues are in agreement with it.

The next step is to see if the hen and the female chick she produces, who will lay eggs for human consumption, can go through a commercial lifespan.

If you're vegan or vegetarian, it probably sounds like a very roundabout way of animal cruelty in farming, but it may be a better alternative to shredding baby male chick at birth.

Doctors are using gene-editing to improve the health of their patients.