Scientists unlock key to animal immunity Disease-free poultry is possible. GEELONG scientists are on the brink of creating the world's first disease-proof animals. The CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory project is producing genetically modified chickens via cutting-edge science from plants. It is hoped the CSIRO super-chickens will breed disease-resistant offspring, creating a line of poultry immune to deadly bird flu. Former CSIRO AAHL director Martyn Jeggo, who has taken up a part-time post as chief of the Geelong Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, said the global impact of the project could not be overstated. "If this avian influenza stuff works, you'll want to be in Geelong; right now is the first time we have ever produced a resistant animal to a major disease like this," Dr Jeggo said. If we can do it for one, why the hell can't we do it for every other disease? This is a proof-of-concept project, which is massive. Dr Jeggo said CSIRO plant scientists had found RNAi molecules could switch off genes in plants to create bigger ears of corn, stronger stalks or drought-resistance. This laid the foundations for the chicken project. "Interfering with RNAs is the real answer to vaccines and disease-resistant animals, cancer; a whole range of important things," Dr Jeggo said. In CSIRO Plant Industries a lot of the pioneering work has been done ... which is why we (CSIRO AAHL) are now the lead group in producing an influenza-resistant chicken. CSIRO AAHL head of animal biosecurity research Dr John Lowenthal said the project had been made public several years ago but was now at a critical stage. Interfering with RNAs is a technology that allows scientists to control or silence particular genes, leading to the production of "transgenic" chickens. The process happened naturally in animals all the time as part of the body's way of preventing and dealing with viruses, but CSIRO scientists were effectively super-charging the process, Dr Lowenthal said.