Kichoon Lee

View Publications

Research Focus

Improving growth rates through increased muscle mass, reduced subcutaneous fat, and enhanced intramuscular fat benefits both livestock producers and consumers. My research aims to identify novel factors and investigate their roles in adipose tissue and muscle development. The insights gained from these studies will pave the way for innovative breeding strategies to select superior animal lines with greater muscle growth and lower fat content. Furthermore, developing new genetic and nutritional approaches to regulate the expression of key genes in adipose tissue or muscle is anticipated to enhance animal production efficiency.

Over the past several years, we developed a poultry-specific CRISPR/Cas9 adenoviral delivery system capable of efficiently introducing targeted mutations without relying on PGC culture. Using this system, we successfully generated multiple lines of genome-edited quail, chickens, and ducks with mutations in the myostatin (MSTN) and melanophilin (MLPH) genes. Our ongoing efforts focus on creating diverse lines of gene-edited poultry with enhanced muscle growth, reduced fat, improved feed efficiency, superior eggshell quality, and resistance to viral infections.