date:May 30, 2012
Hyun Lillehoj, a molecular biologist with USDAs Agricultural Research Service, and her colleagues have identified an immune molecule called NK lysine, a host antimicrobial protein that can kill pathogens, improve immune response and promote growth of beneficial gut bacteria in poultry, according to ARS. Lillehoj and her colleagues demonstrated for the first time that NK lysine kills chickencoccidia. Poultry diseases such ascoccidiosiscause poultry losses of more than $600 million in the US and $