Arctic bacteria eyed for salmonella vaccine in chickens

james

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Genes from bacteria found in Arctic waters are being studied for their use in breeding vaccines to prevent a common foodborne illness in chickens.

Francis Nano, a microbiologist at the University of Victoria, has picked up "proof of concept" funding from Genome BC to harvest Arctic bacteria and use a gene from the bugs to replace an "essential gene" in a salmonella bacterium.

This process is expected to create a modified bacterium that can?t survive in a warm environment such as the tissues of a warm-blooded animal, the university said in a release Friday.

Used as a vaccine, the genetically modified temperature-sensitive bacterium would immunize the recipient, UVic said.

"Using Arctic genes, we can create bacterial pathogens that behave like vaccines, much like the many temperature-sensitive viruses that are used as vaccines," Nano said in the university?s release. "We can apply this same approach to develop new vaccines against many diseases of humans and animals."

Read more at http://agcanada.com/daily/arctic-bacteria-eyed-for-salmonella-vaccine-in-chickens/
 
 
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