31 August 1996

Chicken Transmogrification

A junior scientist at the largest biotechnology laboratory in the region won a promotion with his clever mutation of the humble chicken. She modified the genetic structure of a chicken so that hens "print" an expiration date on the shell of each egg. These are early days in biotechnology, and the invention has one severe drawback: the date never changes. Industry journals report that the unchanging lighting conditions in used in industrial farming warehouses make it difficult to reintroduce the concept of time into genetically-mutated chickens.

Poultry factory magnates are nevertheless quite excited. (But then, it doesn't take much to excite a poultry factory magnate.)