A Game-Changer for Pig Farmers: Gene Editing Creates Swine Fever-Resistant Pigs

Imagine a world where a deadly, highly contagious pig disease—one that causes massive livestock culls and huge economic losses—is simply powerless. That's the reality scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh have just created, and it's being hailed as a major win for global agriculture.

Scientists at the Roslin Institute created gene-edited pigs completely resistant to Classical Swine Fever (CSF) by blocking a protein the virus needs to replicate.

They've successfully used gene editing to make pigs completely resistant to Classical Swine Fever (CSF), also known as hog cholera or pig plague.

The Deadly Threat

Classical Swine Fever is a truly devastating disease. It brings on fever, severe skin lesions, convulsions, and intense diarrhea, often killing the animal within just 15 days. While it was officially eradicated in the UK back in 1966, the threat remains constant, and periodic outbreaks have led to tens of thousands of pigs being culled. In countries where the disease is always present, like China, Russia, and Brazil, controlling it requires costly, non-stop vaccination programs and restrictive trade practices.

As Dr. Christine Tait-Burkard of the Roslin Institute put it, "This virus has a severe effect on animal welfare and productivity."

The Scientific Breakthrough

The Roslin team didn't try to develop a better vaccine; they targeted the pig's own DNA. Their study focused on a gene responsible for producing a protein called DNAJC14. They already knew this protein plays a critical role in helping the CSF virus (a type of pestivirus) replicate once it gets inside a cell.

By making a precise, tiny edit to the DNA code, they essentially disabled this protein's function. This simple change blocked the virus from making copies of itself.

A Successful Trial

To test their theory, the scientists created a line of pigs with this exact edit. They then exposed four of these gene-edited pigs—along with four normal control pigs—to the highly contagious CSF virus at a high-security facility.

The results were dramatic and undeniable:

·        The control pigs showed classic symptoms within a week and had high levels of the virus in their blood.

·        The gene-edited pigs remained perfectly healthy and showed zero signs of infection.

Even better, the scientists have monitored several generations of these gene-edited animals and have observed no negative effects on their health or fertility.

The Path Forward

This advancement comes at a time when many countries, including the UK, are relaxing rules around gene editing in agriculture. With US, Japan, and Brazil already approving gene-edited livestock, the path to market for these disease-resistant pigs is becoming clearer.

For scientists like Dr. Simon Lillico, a co-author on the study, the motivation is simple: "In my mind there is a moral imperative that if we can make animals that are disease resistant then we probably should do."

This research isn't just about pigs, either. The same DNAJC14 gene is involved in diseases that affect cattle and sheep. The team is already investigating whether this breakthrough can be extended to help those species too, marking a major step toward creating healthier, more resilient livestock populations around the world.

 

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