Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), the last site-specific endonuclease to be developed, is an RNA- guided endonuclease, easy to engineer and direct to a given target site.
This technology has been successfully applied to rabbits, swine, goats, sheep and cattle, situating genome editing in livestock species at an attainable distance, thereby empowering scientist to develop a myriad of applications.
Genetically modified livestock animals can be used as biomodels to study human or livestock physiology and disease, as bioreactors to produce complex proteins, or as organ donors for transplantation.
Specifically on livestock production, genome editing in farm animals may serve to improve productive genetic traits, to improve various animal products, to confer resistance to diseases or to minimize the environmental impact on farming.
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However, these benefits depend on the approval of GMA- [genetically modified animal] derived products for human consumption, a goal that depends mostly on people′s opinion, bedeviled in many cases by prejudices against the term “transgenic.” A good start would be to explain in layman words the differences between transgenic and non- transgenic genome editions.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: CRISPR is knocking on barn door
