The chicken (Gallusgallus) has long served as a vital model in developmental biology and agriculture. Recent advancements in genome editing, particularly through germ cell-mediated techniques, have significantly enhanced the generation of transgenic and gene-edited chickens. This review summarizes the development of avian gene-editing, including various germ cell ablation methods to improve germline transmission, as well as strategies for producing sterile surrogate recipients. We compare physical, chemical, irradiation-based, and genetic approaches for endogenous germ cell ablation, with a focus on emerging inducible sterility systems such as DAZL-iCaspase9 and gSAMURAI. We also highlight applications in non-chicken avian species and discuss future directions for avian genome engineering and surrogate host technologies.

Declaration of competing interests Yi-Chen Chen is an employee of Setsuro Tech Inc. The other authors declare no competing interests.