COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - As the nation prepares for Thanksgiving, a Texas A&M undergraduate student is part of a research breakthrough that could help protect the turkey industry from a devastating disease.

Leila Chang helped develop the first-ever three-dimensional model of a turkey gut. It’s a laboratory tool researchers say will allow them to study and fight blackhead disease outside of live birds.

Leila Chang, 21, helped create the first-ever 3-D mini turkey gut model, which could revolutionize the poultry industry. (kbtx)

Blackhead disease, caused by a tiny parasite that attacks the bird’s gut, can spread rapidly through a flock.

Texas A&M AgriLife reports it has a death rate that can reach as high as 80%. Researchers have struggled for decades to study the disease saf

See Full Page