Some years ago Japanese researchers published an exciting finding in a science journal that a chick could be hatched using a shell-less embryo, which became a total game-changer for scientists looking for ways to study how chicks grow during their developmental stages and how to conserve abandoned or damaged eggs from endangered species of birds.
One class at Oihama High School in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, however, elaborated on this strategy using a piece of Saran wrap to hold the fetus and provide just the right amount of oxygen flow, in addition to providing it with calcium and water.
A video of the experiment, which was recently broadcast on national television, quickly caught international attention, and it’s not hard to see why after watching the video below.
The whole process takes less than a month and has a 60 percent success rate, which is the highest of any shell-less hatching process so far. It only takes three days for the chick’s heart to begin beating, and by day 21 it’s fully developed.
The process is actually surprisingly simple. After stretching out some plastic wrap, the egg shell is cracked and the contents are transferred carefully to the plastic wrap. After that the egg is artificially fertilized and then placed in an incubator where it will develop naturally.
