Gene Editing Among Livestock May Increase Resistance to Diseases

A group of leading researchers, vets and farmers from UK are urging ministers to lift gene-editing restrictions and unnecessary legal curbs to ease gene-editing rules adopted from EU.

This biotechnology is like the traditional breeding method, but a better version for people who believe that this preserves genetic diversity.

This method called gene-editing allows the creation of new animal breeds resistant to disease, heat and drought.

However, in a letter to the environment secretary, George Eustice, it looks like there is less interest in using the technology to creation of new breeds in livestock.

Great value of gene editing

"It is every bit as important that we use the enormous power of gene editing to create breeds of animals that are resistant to disease, droughts and heatwaves as it is to fashion new crop varieties," said Professor Bruce Whitelaw of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute. "This is particularly important as global warming intensifies and we strive to ensure we are protected against future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases."

In addition, scientists have identified a gene that may confer resistance to influenza. "We can now think about using gene editing to create breeds resistant to avian and swine flu, and so curb outbreaks on farms, while also reducing the risk of triggering future pandemics in humans," added Whitelaw, one of the letter's signatories.

Recent developments include gene editing on pigs to fight off a disease known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), a widely common disease among pig herds around the world.

"Using gene editing this way has enormous power to save billions of pounds and to stop animal suffering," said Whitelaw.

Why gene-editing research has been lagging in the country

More recent gene-editing researches and techniques such as gene modification have been strictly regulated by EU. This is when European court of justice controversially ruled in 2018 that gene editing was essentially the same as genetic modification and should be subject to tight regulation.

"Gene-editing research in the UK has been hampered by the unnecessary and unscientific regulatory barriers we have inherited from the EU," said Professor Helen Sang, also of the Roslin Institute and a signatory of the letter. "This leaves us lagging behind the approach taken in other parts of the world, such as Japan, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and Canada."

Britain hopes this legislation will soon be eased and announced directly from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. However, the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform suggests more cautious reform on use of method on livestock, than in plants or crops.

This poses a 'lost opportunity' for Professor Lord Trees, an expert in vaccine parasitology, noting that this could have preserved rare breeds and promotes genetic diversity.

"This could have a very significant impact in reducing antimicrobial and antiparasitic drug usage and help overcome the challenges of resistance to chemical treatment, as well as the problem of environmental contamination with drug residues."

On the other hand, some people opposes to the idea of 'genetically altering animals'.