Method of detecting genetically modified chicken containing human erythropoietin gene

Genetically modified (GM) chickens carrying the human erythropoietin (hEpo) gene have been developed to produce recombinant hEpo protein in eggs. However, such animals have not been approved as food sources in Japan. We developed a method for detecting the hEpo gene in chicken meat using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR). The hEpo gene was clearly detected in genomic DNA extracted from magnum and heart of a chimeric chicken containing the hEpo gene. A plasmid containing the hEpo gene was used as a standard reference molecule as well. The results clearly showed that our method was capable of detecting the hEpo gene contained in the plasmid in the presence of genomic DNA extracted from a raw chicken meat sample. We successfully used this method to test six samples of raw chicken meat and six samples of chicken meat in processed foods. This method will be useful for monitoring chicken meat that might have originated from GM chickens carrying the hEpo gene to assure food safety.