The avian flu wouldn’t be much of a problem if birds didn’t carry the virus. Has no one thought of this yet? Of course they have. British scientists are looking into genetically modifying chickens so that they can resist the lethal H5N1 virus.
While much of the world is focused on vaccines and other medications, a team in Britain is genetically engineering chickens so that they won’t be vulnerable to several strains of influenza.
The technology, regulatory approval and ultimate transition to an entire stock of flu-resistant chickens is several years off, but it won’t take the Luddites opposed to genetically modified organisms that long to crank up their disinformation campaigns and begin destroying labs.
Remember these people? They’re the ones who are so feverishly opposed to genetic modifications that they have been willing to let the poor in developing countries starve rather than consume lifesaving food made from genetically modified crops donated by the U.S. Expect them to be just as willing to allow an influenza pandemic to kill millions of humans because of their irrational resistance to genetically modified organisms.
How could the anti-GMO hysterics possibly justify such a position? More than likely, they will claim to be protecting animals. Don’t listen to them.
“Developing flu-resistant chickens has clear benefits for human health and animal welfare, as we wouldn’t have to slaughter chickens around the world,” explains Laurence Tiley, professor of Molecular Virology at Cambridge University and one of the scientists working toward GM poultry.
We can’t name a single instance of death or illness caused by GM foods and neither can the anti-GMO crowd. GM foods are safe. The U.S. Department of Agriculture characterizes the risk of GMO foods as “negligible.”
Man has been altering food sources for about 10,000 years, when he first began crossbreeding plants. Genetic modifications merely mark the progress of the technology, just as driving cars, living in climate-controlled houses and taking antibiotics are improvements to walking barefoot, sleeping in caves and the practices of Hippocrates.
And once scientists figure out how to create a flu-resistant chicken, maybe they will do the same for humans.