A historic pandemic continues to rage, and it isn’t getting the attention it deserves given the virus’s toll. The outbreak in this case isn’t COVID-19, but a vicious iteration of the avian flu. But there’s early evidence that the groundbreaking science of CRISPR gene-editing could offer a solution—through genetically-modified chickens.
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Of course, there are some caveats in the latest CRISPR study. For starters, poultry (like humans) are susceptible to breakthrough infections, and exposure to high levels of the virus can potentially break past even gene-edited defenses, in turn letting the virus mutate further. But this crisis and its CRISPR-powered response is a telling case study in a much larger story: What some argue is an existential need for a gene-altered food chain.
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The global populace may be wary of genetic modification in what they eat, but the CRISPR chickens study demonstrates how important gene-modified foods could become in ensuring that the food chain can withstand environmental, pathogenic, and disease threats we have yet to encounter.
