Researchers Create New GMO Pigs Resistant to PRRS

Facilities that constantly combat Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) may soon find their fight coming to an end, as the first GMO pigs with resistance to the disease have been bred.

While PRRS, which causes reproductive failure, weight loss and high mortality rates in domestic pigs, currently has no vaccine, a team of researchers from the University of Missouri (MU) have now bred pigs that show an inherent resistance to the disease.

“Once inside the pigs, PRRS needs some help to spread; it gets that help from a protein called CD163,” explained Randall Prather, professor of animal sciences in the university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “We were able to breed a litter of pigs that do not produce this protein, and as a result, the virus doesn’t spread. When we exposed the pigs to PRRS, they did not get sick and continued to gain weight normally.”

In order the accomplish this tremendous result, researchers have manipulated the gene that makes the CD163 protein, causing the pigs in question to not produce.

“There are several critical challenges ahead as we develop and commercialize this technology; however, the promise is clear, and Genus is committed to developing its potential. Genus is dedicated to the responsible exploration of new innovations that benefit the well-being of animals, farmers, and ultimately consumers.”

Their study was recently published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.