Scientists have made a breakthrough in creating pigs resistant to classical swine fever, a highly contagious and often fatal disease that poses a major threat to pig farming worldwide. The gene-edited animals were able to remain healthy when exposed to the virus, which had previously caused devastating outbreaks in the UK.
Classical swine fever is known for causing severe symptoms including fever, skin lesions, convulsions, diarrhoea, and death within 15 days. In recent years, periodic outbreaks have led to the culling of over 75,000 pigs in the UK alone, while countries like China, Russia, and Brazil have had to implement costly vaccination programs and trade restrictions to control the spread of the disease.
To combat this, scientists at Edinburgh's Roslin Institute targeted a specific gene responsible for producing a protein called DNAJC14. Altering just a few letters of the DNA code was found to block viral replication in previous studies. The latest study replicated this approach by creating a line of pigs with the precise edits to their DNA.
When four of these pigs were exposed to classical swine fever, along with four control pigs, it became clear that the gene-edited animals were completely immune to infection. In contrast, the control animals showed symptoms and high levels of the virus in their blood just a week after inoculation. Several generations of gene-edited pigs were monitored without any adverse effects on health or fertility.
This breakthrough comes as many countries are relaxing rules around gene editing in agriculture, with the UK's Precision Breeding Act paving the way for gene-edited crops and livestock approval in other nations. The research also highlights the potential to apply similar technology to other species, such as cattle and sheep, which would provide further benefits for animal welfare and productivity.
The creation of disease-resistant pigs has the potential to save countless lives and reduce economic losses for farmers worldwide. With this technology, scientists are now poised to make a significant impact on the livestock sector's resilience to disease.
Classical swine fever is known for causing severe symptoms including fever, skin lesions, convulsions, diarrhoea, and death within 15 days. In recent years, periodic outbreaks have led to the culling of over 75,000 pigs in the UK alone, while countries like China, Russia, and Brazil have had to implement costly vaccination programs and trade restrictions to control the spread of the disease.
To combat this, scientists at Edinburgh's Roslin Institute targeted a specific gene responsible for producing a protein called DNAJC14. Altering just a few letters of the DNA code was found to block viral replication in previous studies. The latest study replicated this approach by creating a line of pigs with the precise edits to their DNA.
When four of these pigs were exposed to classical swine fever, along with four control pigs, it became clear that the gene-edited animals were completely immune to infection. In contrast, the control animals showed symptoms and high levels of the virus in their blood just a week after inoculation. Several generations of gene-edited pigs were monitored without any adverse effects on health or fertility.
This breakthrough comes as many countries are relaxing rules around gene editing in agriculture, with the UK's Precision Breeding Act paving the way for gene-edited crops and livestock approval in other nations. The research also highlights the potential to apply similar technology to other species, such as cattle and sheep, which would provide further benefits for animal welfare and productivity.
The creation of disease-resistant pigs has the potential to save countless lives and reduce economic losses for farmers worldwide. With this technology, scientists are now poised to make a significant impact on the livestock sector's resilience to disease.
This is HUGE! I mean, think about it - we're talking about saving millions of pigs from a deadly disease that was basically wiping out entire pig farms in certain countries. The science behind this is so cool, they found this one gene that's responsible for the virus and just tweaked it a bit to make the pigs immune. It's like, whoa! And now they can apply this tech to other animals too? That's some game-changing stuff right there. 
I'm all for innovation in agriculture and making farming more sustainable. This breakthrough is definitely a step in the right direction towards improving animal welfare and productivity. 
scientists have been working so hard to develop gene-edited pigs that can resist classical swine fever it's amazing to see them succeed! 
I mean, think about all the devastating outbreaks in the UK and how many lives were lost - this is a game-changer! The fact that these gene-edited animals are completely immune to infection and don't show any adverse effects on health or fertility is just incredible 
. And the best part is, this tech can be applied to other species too, which means even more benefits for animal welfare and productivity 
. I'm so hyped about this and I know many farmers around the world will be too - cheers to the scientists who made it happen! 
OMG I cant even believe its happening!! Theyre literally making pigs super immune to classical swine fever which is like a total game changer for pig farming 
! Think about it, no more culling 75k pigs every year in the UK alone, thats crazy 
. And the fact that they can do this with gene editing tech is just wild, who knew science could be so cool 
? Now imagine applying this to other animals like cows and sheep, that would be amazing 
! Its not just about saving lives but also about improving animal welfare and productivity 
. Can't wait to see what other breakthroughs come out of this tech 
. I mean, I've heard of it, but it sounds like some kinda zombie apocalypse for pigs 
. But seriously, this breakthrough is huge! Gene-edited animals? It's like something outta sci-fi movie 
. And the fact that they created pigs that are immune to the disease without any negative effects on their health or fertility is just amazing 
. It's gonna save lives, reduce economic losses... what more can you ask for? 
!
! I mean, we've been hearing about outbreaks and all that stuff for ages, and now there's this breakthrough that could literally save so many lives 
. It's crazy how scientists were able to tweak just a few DNA letters to block the virus from replicating - it's like they're basically superheroes for animals 
. I'm all about that gene-edited tech forward 
.
I'm definitely following the developments in gene editing tech - who knows what other game-changers we'll see?
. What's new here is that some scientists managed to make pigs resistant to classical swine fever, but I need to see more concrete evidence before I get excited. Where exactly are these studies being published? Are they open-access or behind paywalls? And what about long-term effects on the environment and human health? 
We can't just assume that because we've made some tweaks to a pig's DNA, it'll solve all our problems with classical swine fever. There gotta be more to this story before I start jumping for joy 
.
. This is such good news for animal lovers and farmers everywhere 
and now scientists are thinking of applying this tech to other animals too 
. He's lost so many animals to the disease before, it's devastating 
. This new tech is like, game changer for him 
. And it's not just his farm that'll benefit, but also farmers in other countries 
. This tech could be a total game-changer (again, in a good way) for animal welfare and productivity 
