Genetically Engineered Hens Made to Kill Their Own Chicks

In an effort to stop the barbaric culling of male chicks, scientists plan to create GE hens that pass on lethal genes to their male offspring, killing them before they hatch.

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

• Each year, more than 6 billion male chicks are killed worldwide, up to 300 million of them in the U.S., as part of the industrialized egg industry

• A team of Israeli scientists have filed a concept patent that involves genetically engineering hens to pass on a lethality, or killer, gene to male embryos, which would eliminate them before t…