Aureozyme Inc. traces its roots to cow stomachs, where anaerobic fungi produce hydrolytic enzymes that rapidly convert plant cell walls to fermentable sugars, a talent with applications in the detergent, textile, feed, brewing, bakery, pulp and paper, chemical, and remediation industries. But these more economical enzymes aren't very accessible in their natural setting. 2 AviGenics Inc. sees chickens in a new light, as living bioreactors to manufacture drugs. Transgenes use the ovalbumin promoter, and are introduced directly into blastoderm cells through holes made in fertilized eggs. The egg is a wonderful protein delivery platform.
Ovalbumin accounts for two grams of the total five grams of protein of an egg.
The first transgenic chicken, named ALVin, incorporated a vector and passed it to the next generation. UGA recruited scholar Steve Stice from Advanced Cell Technology in Amherst, Mass., where last year he led the team that cloned several cows from fetal fibroblasts. But unlike Charlie and George, the cloned calves of last year's headlines, the cloning protocol at UGA will use nuclei from adult cells, a la Dolly. Cloning allows us to introduce genetic change faster than artificial insemination. Stice foresees producers raising several different cloned herds, to control traits while maintaining some genetic diversity.