Hatching a plan to use eggs as cure

TOKYO - Scientists in Japan have succeeded in making hens lay eggs that contain a pharmaceutical agent that can be used to treat such diseases as cancer and hepatitis.

The procedure created by researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Kansai in Osaka Prefecture, uses genome editing technology to produce interferon beta, a type of protein related to the immune system, at a relatively low cost.

As early as next year, a joint research company plans to sell the drug as a research reagent at a price about half that of the conventional product. Eventually, they hope to lower the price to less than 10 percent of the current level.