Two beaks are better than one.
Scientists at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, say genetically engineering a chick with two beaks might reveal the secrets of human face development and possibly human facial deformities.
The researchers identified the molecules that control the development of certain facial features, then manipulated them to grow a second beak out of the side of the normal one.
University researcher Joy Richman led the study.
First, the researchers blocked the activity of a protein that stimulates bone growth. Then they added retinoic acid, a vitamin A derivative.
These manipulations together changed the chick's patterns of bone and cartilage growth. Where the side of the chick's beak would normally appear, the cells were re-programmed to become the center of a new beak instead.
Richman and her colleagues believe the development of different facial features in humans is also largely determined by varying concentrations of the protein and retinoic acid.
The chick will now be an animal model used for further experiments to test facial development, Richman said.
