Competitive bioreactor hens on the horizon

The hen has long held promise as a low-cost, high-yield bioreactor for the production of human biopharmaceuticals in egg whites using genetic engineering. Two separate reports have recently appeared indicating the production of substantial levels of human monoclonal and single chain antibodies (>3 mg and >150mg, respectively) in eggs of transgenic hens. These promising findings indicate that the hen is close to becoming a competitive manufacturing platform for the production of human biopharmaceuticals.