Avian Genomics and Transgenesis

Dear Colleagues,

Avian species have become valuable animal models in various agriculture, veterinary, and life science disciplines. In the past two decades, the discipline of avian genomics has been undergoing advancements together with the advancements in high-throughput sequencing techniques, including the recent whole-transcriptome sequencing (bulk RNA-seq) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). As a result, the genome/transcriptome profiling of different individual cells and tissues, and also comparative analyses of cells and tissues, have been widely reported in avian model animals, such as chickens, quails, and zebra finches. Additionally, the avian transgenic discipline has also been undergoing advancements in the past two decades with the development of genome editing tools, such as meganucleases, zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated nucleases (CRISPR/Cas), and base editors. These tools enabled the precise genome editing of avian cells in vitro, as well as in vitro- or in vivo-mediated genome editing for the generation of transgenic avian species. Additionally, the developed genome editing techniques and transgenic birds are outspreading our capability to explain the contribution of genome-modified birds in a variety of fields, ranging from basic research to applied biotechnology and biomedical research. This Special Issue aims to collect research and review manuscripts that newly address the expression and/or functions of an extended set of genes/transcripts, genome editing methods, and the generation/analysis of transgenic avian species. 

Prof. Dr. Jae Yong Han
Dr. Deivendran Rengaraj
Guest Editors

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