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Chickens curing cancer?
#1
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46993649

This article discusses the new technology of using genetically motified chicken's eggs as a new medical resource. Their eggs can contain drugs to help for specific types of cancer as well as arthritis. Researchers have discovered that by injecting a human gene that produces protein in a human body into a chickens DNA that is responsible for the white of the egg, the chicken egg contained a high amount of the protein. This is helpful in the fact that most diseases are caused by a natural deficiency of a certain protein or chemical in the body and these diseases can be managed by taking a drug containing that protein. The team of researchers have focused on two proteins, one that is contains antiviral and anticancer effects and the other contains stimulates already damaged tissue to repair itself. 

These drugs are not yet for sale yet and they are now hoping to use them for animal helath first and in 10 to 20 years start using them on humans, giving enough time to develope and strengthen the effectiveness. The article states that this method is 10-100 times cheaper than producing these drugs in a sterile lab because of the fact that chicken sheds and the caring of them is cheaper than buiding a clean, high tech lab. It also states that the chickens used in this research are being "pampered" and cared for a lot better than they would be on a farm. 

In my opinion I think there is both pros and cons with this. Pros being this method is a lot less expensive and a more natural way of obtaining certain proteins, which some people prefer over straight synthetically produced drugs, providoing people with an option. I think this artical overall highlights the accomplishements of science in this age and the crazy things we found it can do. The cons though, the article does state that the chickens are being treated great but if this becomes more popular there is a chance that the chicken's best interests will begin to fade, and this could lead to animal activists questioning and possibly an increase in animal abuse.
#2
Reading about this article is very exciting, considering that it shows how far we've come in regards to medical research. However, I agree with the statement you made about the well being of the chickens possibly being disregarded if this method becomes popular. I see this as a plausible predication, as it is not uncommon for people to consider animals as disposable and not care about how they are treated as long as humans are benefited in the end. Another con that I could possibly see happening is that even though the article states it is a cheaper option, it could be  up-charged based on how popular it becomes. Overall, if ethics are upheld, this method could be extremely beneficial for our world.
#3
(02-14-2019, 01:14 PM)gracemacdonald Wrote: Reading about this article is very exciting, considering that it shows how far we've come in regards to medical research. However, I agree with the statement you made about the well being of the chickens possibly being disregarded if this method becomes popular. I see this as a plausible predication, as it is not uncommon for people to consider animals as disposable and not care about how they are treated as long as humans are benefited in the end. Another con that I could possibly see happening is that even though the article states it is a cheaper option, it could be  up-charged based on how popular it becomes. Overall, if ethics are upheld, this method could be extremely beneficial for our world.

I agree with you completley in that if ethics are upheld this new method could be a very good solution. I do see that given the history of business and economics, there is many ways this method could turn into something that solely benefits humans, specifically the people in charge of distributing and selling the drugs created.


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