Chickens from a bioreactor

Video about growing a chicken without a shell: reality or fake?

marks, Geektimes

A couple of days ago, a very interesting video was posted on the Spoon & Tamago Facebook page, showing a group of Japanese schoolchildren trying to implement an interesting idea. Namely, to raise a chicken in artificial conditions, in an incubator, in an egg without a shell. The band described the experience as a "world first." All this is framed in the form of shows that the Japanese love so much, but this does not make the video any less interesting – it is not every day that you have to see how an ordinary yolk with protein gradually turns into a living being.

In fact, similar experiments have already been conducted in the laboratory. The technique of growing chickens in an egg without a shell was developed by scientists – professors Yutaka Tahara and Katsuya Obara. The same scientists took part in this school experiment, controlling the actions of students.

Figure from the article Shell-less Chick Embryo Culture System (Journal of Poultry Science, 2014) – VM.

What significance can the technology of growing a chicken from an egg without a shell have? According to the scientists who developed this method, it can be useful for working with the genetic material of the embryo. In particular, working with such an "egg" allows scientists to manipulate the genome of an embryo at almost any stage of its development. This technology can also be useful for specialists working in the field of regenerative medicine.

Scientists are also working with embryos inside an egg with a shell, but for this it was necessary to create narrow holes in the shell. Working in such conditions is not too comfortable. Methods using artificial shells or containers with permeable membrane walls for gas exchange are also used. But none of these methods made it possible to ensure the survival of more than 50% of embryos.

The technique proposed by Japanese scientists ensures the survival of embryos at a very high level – more than 90% until the 17th day of development. In order to ensure the normal development of the bird embryo, specialists have developed a way to "supply" calcium to the embryo. This is done using calcium lactate and distilled water. Oxygen is also needed, and scientists supply it in its pure form. As a result, 14 eggs without a shell give 8 chickens. The rest of the embryos, unfortunately, are dying. Thus, the efficiency of the method is 57.1%.

What experiments can be carried out with embryos? Well, for example, try to grow a dinosaur. Scientists have already partially achieved success in this matter.

Thus, as a result of interference in the development of the embryo, proteins that are responsible for the formation of the beak were blocked. As a result, the skull of the modified chickens became more like the skull of a reptile than the skull of a bird. The bird's beak itself is enlarged incisor interjaw bones that have merged into a monolithic structure.

The video with schoolchildren is not a demonstration of the first growing of a chicken without a shell. Moreover, it is not the first demonstration: a similar video has already been shown on Japanese television.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  08.06.2016