• Question: How did you genetically modify the chicken? What did it look like? How did you do it?

    Asked by DYSH to Sharon on 8 Mar 2017. This question was also asked by Madeluen.
    • Photo: Xueyuan Jiang

      Xueyuan Jiang answered on 8 Mar 2017:


      I modified the chicken embryo when it’s still in the egg. Basically I open a tiny little hole on the eggshell, inject some virus into the embryo, seal the egg and put it back in the incubator.

      Back then we were studying the genes that are necessary for chicken to grow feather. I was trying to get rid of some genes and make the chicken featherless. Well, the modified chicken still has feather, but much less than the normal ones. Other than that, it’s completely normal : )

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