Scientist create gene-edited pigs

[00:00.39] By now, most of us will have heard of GMOs.

[00:05.71] In case you haven't, GMO stands for genetically-modified organism.

[00:11.55] This basically means that an organism has had a foreign genetic sequence introduced into it.

[00:20.85] In theory, this gives the organism certain advantages – it may become hardier by developing a resistance to disease, or in the case of GM food, may be bigger and require fewer nutrients to develop.

[00:37.31] GM organisms have been used for a while.

[00:44.49] Scientists in the UK are trialling a GM wheat which allegedly yields40% more crop in greenhouse conditions.

[00:51.66] GM hens, which are able to lay eggs from different poultry breeds, have been used by scientists in Edinburgh to conserve rare birds by storing their stem cells in a seed bank.

[01:05.47] And more recently, scientists in China used information from the genome of a plant to increase the production of a key malaria drug, helping to meet the large global demand.

[01:20.08] But now scientists at the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute have created GE pigs which are allegedly immune to one of the world's costliest livestock diseases.

[01:34.69] GE stands for gene editing. Unlike GM, gene editing merely alters the DNA of the creature.

[01:45.58] In this case, a small region of pig DNA was deleted, preventing contraction of the PRRS virus, or Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus.

[01:59.39] The virus causes breathing problems and death, but even after the GE pigs were exposed to it, none have become ill.

[02:09.48] And the effect is permanent, so the resistance will be passed on through natural breeding.

[02:16.12] Tests so far showed that the animals are not weakened in any other way by the process, claims Research leader Dr Christine Tait-Burkard.

[02:26.75] "The main thing that this edit will do is benefit animal welfare because the animals will not get a devastating disease."

[02:35.78] However, critics have argued that the creature's welfare will actually suffer because of this.

[02:44.81] Helen Browning of the Soil Association believes this only addresses the symptom of the problem and not the root cause.

[02:55.97] "It is not encouraging companies to change the way they keep their pigs so they don't become diseased in the first place", she says.

[03:01.55] Regardless, this is an experiment and while the technique appears to work, it is several years away from regulation and implementation.

[03:10.05] “On top of that, only if these studies are successful and the public are accepting, would we integrate these gene edits into commercial breeding stocks," Dr Tait-Burkard told the BBC.

[03:22.53] So it seems we may have a while yet.