Cattle engineered to resist disease could be as little as a year away from the marketplace. A gene-editing technology developed at Washington State University is being licensed to a global animal genetics company for developing lines of cattle resistant to bovine respiratory disease, the primary cause of cattle mortality for U.S. producers.
By making a single edit in a gene, WSU researcher Subramaniam Srikumaran's discovery helps prevent the lung inflammation and pneumonia characteristic of the disease.
Creating resistance to the disease through genetic means could greatly reduce the use of antibiotics, preventing antibiotic-resistant pathogens from forming, according to WSU professor Jon Oatley, who heads the university's Functional Genomics Initiative.
Through an agreement negotiated by WSU's Office of Commercialization, the technology is being licensed to Genus, a British-based company that sells biotechnology products to cattle and pig farmers and has research laboratories in Madison, Wisconsin.
Though Oatley could not speak to Genus' timeline for implementing the technology, he said that "from a conceptual standpoint" it could probably happen within a year, given the nine-month gestation period of cattle. "As far as modifying the embryo," Oatley said, "that could be done tomorrow."
Unlike previous forms of genetic engineering that included introducing foreign DNA, according to Oatley, the gene-editing process only involves changes to the existing genome. That difference makes the technology less controversial. "From a human health standpoint, I don't think the risk is there," he said.
As far as concerns about the animals, which would carry the altered gene forward to future generations of cattle, Oatley said the risk is small. "Off-target effects seem almost impossible with how precise the new tools are," he said. "No unpredicted changes have been found."
The gene-editing discovery and its translation to disease-resistant animals is an example of recently launched genomics initiatives, developed to address the challenges around health and the global food supply.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
The headline for this article is correct – gene-editing could be a huge boon to the cattle industry. Assuming the cost of purchasing the genetics is less than the cost for treating the disease or perhaps the loss of cattle, then this could be an amazing development. It could obviously be extended into other species to control many types of diseases. Improving the profitability of cattle production is a huge benefit. More money in the pockets of cattle producers means a much better opportunity for truck sales. Developments like this are worth following to see just what they could do to improve many lives.
