Most people use eggs to make omelets.
North Carolina State University researcher Dr. James N. Petitte wants to use eggs to make drugs. Petitte, associate professor of developmental biology and biotechnology, is developing a process that uses early avian embryo cells to produce transgenic chickens, from which proteins can be extracted for making drugs. To use eggs to make pharmaceutical proteins, special genes are inserted into embryonic chicken cells that have been cultured using Petitte's technology. These cells then are placed in another embryo. Later, when the chickens produce offspring, proteins can be extracted from their eggs or from their blood.