CRISPR pork: U.S. approves first gene-edited pigs for consumption

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved new genetically modified (GM) pigs for human consumption.

Researchers engineered the GM pigs to resist Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), a viral disease that costs the U.S. pork industry US$1.2 billion annually from 2016 to 2020 ….

To combat PRRS, United Kingdom-based animal genetics company Genus partnered with researchers at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute. Using the gene-editing tool CRISPR, the team removed a gene that enables the PRRS virus to infect pigs.

Only a few GM animals— including salmon modified to reach maturity more quickly and pigs less likely to induce an allergic reaction—have been approved for food in the U.S.

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FDA approval marks a milestone [for] the gene-edited pigs. But Pig Improvement Company (PIC), a subsidiary of Genus, says that they will not reach the market until 2026 at the earliest, once they have gained regulatory approvals in at least Mexico, Canada, and Japan.

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