Source: Julie Larson Bricher, MEATINGPLACE, 10/24/18


Researchers from the University of Missouri, Kansas State University and animal genetics provider Genus have successfully produced a litter of pigs that are genetically resistant to a deadly porcine virus.

The researchers utilized gene editing to prevent transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), which commonly infects the intestines of pigs, causing almost 100 percent mortality in young pigs.

“Previous research had identified an enzyme called ANPEP as a potential receptor for the virus, meaning it could be an important factor in allowing the virus to take hold in pigs,” said Randall Prather, distinguished professor of animal sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, in a press release. “We were able to breed a litter of pigs that did not produce this enzyme, and as a result, they did not get sick when we exposed them to the virus.”

In a statement, Prather and his colleagues noted that editing the gene responsible for making the ANPEP enzyme resulted in a litter of seven pigs with a “null” gene that did not produce the enzyme. When exposed to the TGEV virus, these pigs did not become infected, showing that the presence of the ANPEP enzyme is necessary for an infection and gene editing can create pigs that are resistant.

The study also sought to determine whether editing out ANPEP would produce resistance to porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, which killed nearly 7 million pigs in a 2013 outbreak. While pigs lacking the enzyme still contracted the virus, researchers noted that they are optimistic that the study bodes well for future research.

Read the full paper online at the peer-reviewed journal Transgenic Research. 

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