European scientists have found a way to genetically-modify chickens so that they don’t transmit bird flu, according to research published yesterday in the journal Science.

Bird flu, also known as H5N1 avian influenza, usually afflicts poultry but can cross over to humans and cause lethal respiratory problems and other comp-lications.

Scientists from the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh said the modified chickens could get bird flu but could not pass it on to other chickens.

“Chickens are potential bridging hosts that can enable new strains of flu to be transmitted to humans,” said Laurence Tiley, of the Uni-versity of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine.

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