Today, eggs are indispensable food products. At the same time, at least in terms of chickens, eggs are very important intergenerational connections. As we can see, when eggs are hatched under proper conditions, they provide every components that generate blood and bones as well as to nurture embryo to healthy chick. Yet, despite how long eggs have been studied, there are still many unexplained biological secrets in this wonderful food and genetic source.
Research to forecast 21st century egg use technology, the chicken genome analysis, was completed in December 2004, culminating in the announcement of the entire base sequence. In August 2005, Origen Therapeutics in the United States created transgenic chickens from a chicken’s Embryo Stem cell and succeeded in producing human monoclonal antibodies in these eggs. In Japan, a method was developed to create transgenic chickens by introducing a retroviral vector to the embryo of 2 day fortilized eggs.
By using these latest technologies, we may be able to see chickens that are resistant to influenza viruses and able to create eggs eliminating allergen proteins. Furthermore, transgenic chickens will make it possible to produce eggs that include protein and peptidergic medicines.

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In recent years, annual egg production in Japan has been approximately 2.5 million tons (approximately 40 billion eggs). This places Japan 3rd in the world, trailing the 18 million tons of China and the 4.8 million tons of the U.S.A. About 50% of all eggs produced in Japan are consumed in packages and used by general consumers. Approximately 30% are distributed in food business use for catering service and prepared food products. The remaining 20% are separated into white and yolk, while some are used as liquid whole eggs and processed for usage in many food products. Egg consumption in Japan is approximately 330 per person, the most in the world. Eggs and milk are both known to be highly nutritious, but they have different biological roles. Milk spoils when kept warm, while warmed eggs become chicks. Milk is originally food for offspring that gives them energy and necessary nutrients for their growth. On the other hand, if conditions are right (if they are fertile), chicks hatch from eggs in 21 days. That means an egg is essentially a capsule of life, stocking all of the required and necessary nutrients for the generation, growth and development of future generations. Although eggs contain certain amounts of cholesterol and allergens, these components are stored in proper proportions, the indispensable contents for generating new chickens.
One egg weighs about 65 grams. It’s small, but its nutritional and physiological probability is boundlessly large. In this report, I will state the basic nutritional function of eggs, focus attention on the nutrients currently used for practical applications, and introduce the latest study regarding lysozyme, sialic acid and yolk lipid. Finally, there will be some thoughts about food allergy issues related to eggs.

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The public awareness of the relationship between dietary lipid and the incidence of coronary heart disease has changed the consumers’ attitude towards eggs. Eggs have been singled out by diet-heart advocates as food to be avoided which has resulted in a significant reduction in egg consumption in many parts of the world. Due to the unsuccessful attempts to significantly reduce egg cholesterol content by genetic, nutritional and pharmacological tools, researchers have turned towards a more positive approach to use the egg as a vehicle for delivering to the consumers’ essential nutrients that traditionally were absent or in low concentration in the egg.
The health-promoting effects of dietary ω-3 fatty acids have provoked considerable effort to enrich animal products using various sources of ω-3 fatty acids, such as flaxseed, canola, algae or fish oils. The egg industry in particular has been very responsive in seeking new technology to exploit products beyond their traditional food value. One such technology is the Designer Egg which retains the functional, nutritional, and sensory qualities, but has a significantly altered lipid composition.
The primary goal of infant formula is to mimic the growth and development of the breast fed infant. One approach to design a formula is to match the composition of human breast milk which contains both DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and AA (arachidonic acid). Industry and scientific community alike are searching a new oil source supplying both long chain ω -3 and ω -6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPFA). Recently, we were able to elevate the amounts of DHA, still sustaining a significant level of AA in the egg but reduced ω-6 to ω-3 fatty acid ratios from 20 to 1 by feeding laying hens rations containing α-LNA (linolenic acid). The chicken egg, therefore, is a potential vehicle to provide the much needed DHA and AA, closely mimicking the fatty acid composition of human breast milk.
The objective of this paper is to share a series of studies on alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, the metabolic precursor of DHA, in the laying hen model as eggs / embryos / chick system for the maternal / neonatal nutrition study model in human, designing egg oil with ω-3 fatty acids by manipulating laying hen diets, and further applying the Designer Egg Oil to Neonatal Nutrition and Infant Food Formula. This paper focuses on the far-reaching nutritional significance of longer chain PUFA-enriched eggs (Columbus Concept Egg) containing both DHA and AA, and its wider industrial diversification as egg oil to supply much needed ω-6 to ω-3 fatty acids.
Columbus Concept Egg is known around the globe as ‘Dr. Sim’s Designer Egg’, Columbus Egg, Christopher Egg, Diet Egg, Vivian Egg, and other commercial brands. In this paper, it will be referred to as Designer Egg or DE.

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Chicken egg yolk antibody possesses several merits over other antibodies due to its more specific immuno-reactivity i.e. less cross reactivity with mammalian proteins, being inexpensive, and its continuous and most humane way of producing enormous amounts without sacrificing the chicken. A chicken usually lays about 280 eggs in a year, and egg yolk contains 100-150 mg of IgY per yolk, suggesting that more than 40 g of IgY per year can be obtained from each chicken through eggs. Passive immunization by oral administration of specific antibodies has been an attractive approach against a variety of pathogens in both humans and animals. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is known to be a major pathogenic factor in the development of gastritis, peptic ulcer diseases and gastric cancer in humans. H. pylori adheres and colonizes the surface of gastric mucosa using the functions of its urease. Egg yolk antibody developed against urease efficiently blocked the binding site of H. pylori to its specific mucin receptor in the gastric mucosa. So, oral administration of urease-specific IgY not only inhibited disease activity but also prevent de novo colonization in gastric mucosa, in those sites not yet infected. These encouraging results may pave the way for a novel therapeutic and prophylactic approach in the management of H. pylori-associated gastroduodenal disease. Streptococcus mutans plays an important role in the development of dental caries in humans. Major virulence factor cell-associated Glucosyltransferase (CA-GTase) degrades sucrose to form insoluble glucan, which serves as a bridge for the bacterium to bind tightly to the tooth surface. After binding of S. mutans, it release large amount of acids by fermenting a variety of sugars from the diet, which decalcify enamel, thus causing tooth decay or dental caries. Chicken anti-CA-GTase antibody effectively blocks the CA-GTase from binding to the tooth surfaces, thus inhibiting its growth and preventing the development of dental caries. Anti-CA-GTase antibody also inhibits the synthesis of insoluble glucan by the enzyme, thus assisting with the elimination of the bacterium from the oral cavity. Additionally, the use of specific antibodies (IgY) in controlling other oral microflora e.g. Porphyromonas gingivalis and Candida albicans are also taken into consideration because recent developments indicate a promising future.

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The chicken is an ideal candidate for the efficient production of valuable bioactive proteins such as antibodies, enzymes and cytokines for a wide variety of industries and experimental laboratories. The cost of breeding animals is low, each egg contains a large amount of protein, and each hen lays many eggs per year. In addition, the phylogenetic difference between chickens and mammals allows the production of antibodies against specific epitopes of conserved mammalian proteins. In order to utilize these excellent properties, we have been advancing research into antibody engineering and transgenic technology in chickens.
We have generated numerous chicken monoclonal antibodies that recognize prion proteins (PrP) using cell fusion and phage display techniques. We have also developed chicken-human and chicken-mouse chimeric antibodies and a simple method for humanizing a chicken monoclonal antibody. Our research into transgenic chicken technology has led us to discover that chicken leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is necessary for the culture of embryonic stem (ES) cells. Furthermore, the phosphorylation of STAT3 by LIF is required for the maintenance of the undifferentiated state of chicken blastodermal cells (candidacy cells of chicken ES cells), as well as mouse ES cells. We have also carried out further development of chicken ES cell lines. We now aim to unite the two key technologies of antibody engineering and transgenics and would like to develop new biotechnological approaches for expanding our work with chickens.

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There are two types of avian influenza, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) which is an acute, severe and highly mortal avian disease, and the other one is low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI). Both are zoonoses and the causative viruses can infect not only avian species but also several kinds of mammals. The first major human outbreak of HPAI with the H5N1 virus occurred in Hong Kong in 1997. Subsequently, the disease has demonstrated very wide spread and H5N1 subtype influenza viruses have been isolated in Asia, Europe and Africa since 2003. The main fear is that a new type influenza virus will appear that will cause a pandemic.

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Cyclodextrins (CDs) have long been considered as back-seat players (host molecules) bestowing favors on central players (guest molecules) through the use of their unique capacity to form inclusion complexes. For example, unstable volatile agents can be stabilized by complexation with CDs and their bio-availability can thereby be also enhanced. In addition to the role as back-seat players, in recent years, among natural CDs, alpha CD has also become utilized as a central player owing to some key discoveries of biological functions and enhancing effects. It would appear that alpha CD is now one of the most valuable functional ingredients for health food development. Here we first cover characteristic features like stability, viscosity, and hygroscopic properties of alpha CD under various conditions. In this article we also review the key beneficial effects of intake of alpha CD regarding enhancement of biological functions such as anti-allergy, plasma glucose lowering, plasma insulin lowering, body weight loss, cholesterol lowering and triglyceride lowering effects.

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Akita Research Institute for Food and Brewing was established in 1995. At that time, many kinds of advanced analytical instruments and food processing machines were made available. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometry (Varian Unity plus 400) was exceptionally costly compared with all other instruments and machines in this institute up until now.
NMR spectrometry is usually used for determining the chemical structures of organic compounds, with ordinary PURE samples. But, in food, samples for analyses are in a state of chaos usually, so it is often difficult to separate into PURE samples.
This review deals with two cases of NMR analysis of food lipid MIXTURES.
The first case was ¹³C NMR analysis in a reverse gate decoupling method applied with the oil mixture content of triacylglycerol (TAG), diacylglycerol (DAG), monoacylglycerol (MAG), and glycerol for understanding regioisomers distribution.
Another case was grasping the Miso fermentation process to determine when maturity is reached and good quality is formed, by measuring ¹³C and ¹H NMR spectra on a Soxhlet extraction of a Miso crude oil mixture. In ¹H NMR analysis an adapted high temperature controlled method was used, aiming at polar aprotic solvent effects of the deuterated pyridine.

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Texture descriptive terms were studied in Chinese. Three hundred and seventeen words were collected from an open-ended questionnaire by laboratory panels in Beijing (capital; north area), Shanxi (north inland area), Shanghai (east coastal area) and Guangdong (south coastal area). From these 317 words, 144 terms were selected as texture descriptive terms through round table discussion by an expert panel and studied with respect to their relationship to 30 conceptual parameters such as hardness, fracture, elasticity, particles and moisture. The evaluations were made in laboratory panels in Beijing and Shanghai and the panel members were asked to select those conceptual parameters that each term describes. The data were analyzed through Quantification Method and the scores showed that there are 6 fundamental concepts in texture expression in Chinese: "hardness", "cohesiveness", "viscosity", "elasticity", "brittleness" and "oiliness". The 144 texture descriptive terms were classified into 53 groups on the basis of the similarities of their sample scores.

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