June 29, 2015
Developing disease-resistant poultry may be solution for multiple virus issues
By Charlene Betourney, The University of Georgia
Poultry disease is an international issue, especially when there is an outbreak close to home. However, it's a particularly costly problem in developing countries.
Developing animals resistant to disease may be one of the long-term solutions. University of Georgia researchers in the Regenerative Bioscience Center have spent the last four years gathering data that could make the process a reality.
The team, which includes Steven Stice and Franklin West in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Claudio Afonso at the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, used a technology platform called shRNA—single strands of RNA that fold back on themselves—to selectively stop the production of nucleic acids that cause disease, such as the Newcastle disease virus.
