The eggs laid by a group of "pampered" hens in the UK contain something special in their whites.

英国有一些“养尊处优”的母鸡，它们下的蛋的蛋白里有一些特别的物质。

After researchers from the University of Edinburgh spliced a human gene into the chickens' DNA, the animals began laying eggs boasting a significant amount of two proteins used to treat diseases including cancer in humans - and the process, they say, is far cheaper than current methods of protein production.

爱丁堡大学的研究者们向鸡的DNA中插入了一段人的基因，于是这些动物下的蛋里现在富含两种蛋白质，这两种蛋白质能够用来治病，其中还包括人类的癌症。而且，他们说这个过程比现在生产蛋白质的方法要便宜得多。

"Production from chickens can cost anywhere from 10 to 100 times less than the factories," researcher Lissa Herron told the BBC. "So hopefully we'll be looking at at least 10 times lower overall manufacturing cost."

研究员丽莎·赫隆告诉BBC说：“这种用鸡来生产的方式的成本只有工厂生产的1/10-1/00。所以我们将会看到生产成本至少降低10倍。”

The human body naturally produces the proteins found in the new hen eggs - IFNalpha2a and macrophage-CSF, if you're wondering - and they each play an important role in the immune system.

人体天然就会制造这些鸡蛋中的那两种蛋白质——你可能好奇它们叫什么，它们叫IFNalpha2a 和 macrophage-CSF——它们都在免疫系统里起着重要的作用。

Drugs containing both proteins are widely used by doctors to treat cancers and other diseases, but producing the proteins in the lab is difficult and expensive.

含有这两种蛋白质的药物已经被医生们广泛运用来治疗癌症与其他疾病，但是在实验室里制造这两种蛋白质既困难又昂贵。

The genetically modified chickens, which live "pampered" lives in large pens, are none the wiser either, according to Herron. "As far as the chicken knows, it's just laying a normal egg," she told the BBC.

这些经过基因改造的鸡在它们的大笼子里过着“养尊处优”的生活，而且根据赫隆的说法，它们完全不知道发生了什么。她对BBC说：“对于这些鸡来讲，它们只不过是在正常下蛋。”

"It doesn't affect its health in any way, it's just chugging away, laying eggs as normal."

“这并不会影响它们的健康，它们照常到处咯咯哒、照常下蛋。”

Though their research yielded promising results, the team believes it'd take between 10 and 20 years before regulatory agencies would approve for human use any drugs developed from their genetically modified chickens.

不过，虽然他们的研究取得了令人充满希望的成果，但团队成员认为还得等10到20年监管部门才会批准让人类用由这些鸡制造的药物。