A local research team has achieved a breakthrough by cultivating chicken stem cells under a process called dedifferentiation.

Researchers from Avicore Biotechnology Institute and Seoul National University said Monday that they conducted dedifferentiation using primordial germ cells outside a chicken's body, and drew out stem cells that can later be used to clone the bird.

The process is aimed to create therapeutic proteins in eggs for use in treating humans and laying the foundation for designing improved or identical chickens.

The team said its breakthrough has opened the door for mass production of physiologically active proteins in bird eggs.

The study appeared in the June issue of the science journal Stem Cell.