Transgenic Chickens using Primordial Germ Cells

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Origen Therapeutic's goal is to develop chickens that produce fully human monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. To achieve this aim the chicken Origen needs the capability to insert and modify the chicken genome and to transmit these genomic modifications through the germline. Origen's platform centers around a cell based system that allows integration of large pieces of DNA and allows precise deletions in the genome. To this end Origen has identified a cell population that has the potential to enter the germline. This application focuses on transfecting this cell population with large (150 kb) constructs and to knock-out specific genes within the chicken genome. These transfected cell popupations will then be trafficked through the germline to obtain a flock of transgenic chickens.