Research could lead to new breed of superchicken

Superchicken: It's what's on the menu in America's future thanks in part to global warming.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is funding research into breeds of chicken that tolerate heat better.

Bloomberg reports Carl Schmidt, a professor at the University of Delaware, is using a nearly $1 million grant from the USDA to study the genetic make-up of chickens, searching for traits that help regulate temperature. The "backyard chickens" under study, mostly from Uganda and Kenya, live in environments where high heat and disease are more common than they are in the temperature-controlled, antibiotic-choked industrial facilities that house their cramped American cousins.

The grant is part of a $30 million USDA program to study livestock and global warming.

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