Chicken Cloning Would Redefine Industry

If all goes well, Origen Therapeutics of California believes it can produce millions of cloned chickens in just a few months’ time.

Origen and North Carolina-based Embrex Inc. are taking part in a $4.7 million research project courtesy of a grant from the U.S. National Institute of Science and Technology.

Origen said it will “bulk-grow” embryonic stem cells taken from fertilized eggs as soon as they are laid. The stem cells, taken from different strains of chicken, will be frozen and later injected into the embryo of a fertilized recipient egg.

Origen’s patent on the process is still at the application stage.

Embrex’s role in the research is to develop the industrial injection assembly line that will employ Origen’s technology. Embrex already has developed a machine that can inject vaccines into about 50,000 eggs an hour. The same machine could be used for the injection of the stem cells. The plan is to eventually create a production line that will turn out tens of thousands of eggs an hour. Each chick, identical to the rest on the assembly line, will be a copy of a chicken bred or genetically engineered to have ideal meat traits.

Chicken cloning would redefine the entire industry, affecting everyone from the family farmer to the consumer.