Animal science faculty members at Iowa State University are studying the genetic makeup of chickens in Africa in an effort to improve nutrition and alleviate food scarcity across the continent.
Susan Lamont, a Distinguished Professor of animal science, recently returned from a two-week trip to Africa to lay the groundwork for a project aimed at identifying the genetic mechanisms that strengthen the resistance of chickens to heat and a potentially devastating disease.
Lamont said the team will explore the local genetic diversity of chickens in Africa and eventually breed birds that are more resistant to heat stress and Newcastle disease, an acute respiratory illness that can kill half the birds in a flock in a matter of days.
Read the full, original story: Researchers look to chicken genetics to fight hunger and poverty in Africa
