MADISON, Wis. (KRT) — With the University of Wisconsin-Madison fast becoming a Noah’s ark of stem cell lines, UW researchers working with chickens and quail said Thursday they have created what are essentially the world’s first lines of bird stem cells.
The feat is being hailed as a breakthrough with several potential benefits, including new methods of producing expensive pharmaceuticals using chicken eggs and helping to preserve endangered species of birds such as the whooping crane.
The development also has the potential to remake the poultry industry.
“It is landmark work,” said John Kirby, director of the cell molecular biology program at the University of Arkansas.
No one else has yet claimed they have produced avian stem cell lines, a major stumbling block to using birds for many new medical and commercial purposes, Kirby said.
“What they did is give the necessary tool,” he said.
UW is best known for its pioneering work in creating lines of human stem cells.
Embryonic stem cells are a type of parent or precursor cell that can form other types of cells that, in turn, go on to make various body tissues and organs.
Because of their potential to provide replacement tissue and organs, they hold great promise for treatment of diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries and other diseases.

­John Fauber