The animal breeding company, Genus, has received permission to market pigs developed with new genetic engineering techniques (NGTs) to make them resistant to viruses. The CRISPR-edited pigs are said to be resistant to an RNA virus, i.e. PRRSV, which causes the ‘reproductive and respiratory syndrome’ and is a particular problem for large piglet fattening farms. Genus and its cooperation partners have applied for several patents claiming the pigs, one of which was granted in Europe last year (EP3331355).
PPRS virus causes considerable problems in the pig fattening industry. Specifically, the virus enters and infects cells of the pigs via the CD163 receptor on immune cells. The newly developed CRISPR pigs are genetically engineered in such a way that the immune cells no longer produce the necessary proteins.
Genus is already considered one of the largest companies in the animal breeding sector. With the new patented, virus-resistant pigs, it could considerably expand its dominance, thus possibly creating a situation similar to that in the transgenic plant market, which was for a long time dominated by the US company, Monsanto. To date, only a few large international corporations have been able to enter the international markets of transgenic crops.
Large scale introduction of the NGT pigs also increases the risk of virus adaptation. This scenario is reminiscent of experiences from the transgenic plant sector and the ‘Monsanto effect’, i. e. when the large-scale cultivation of genetically engineered plants resulted in increased resistance, for example, to herbicides such as glyphosate.
Whether the problem with the PRRS viruses can really be resolved by introducing the genetically engineered pigs is uncertain: there are also reports of other infection pathways which do not involve the CD163 receptor. This means that infections also in the genetically engineered pigs might continue. In addition, these RNA viruses are considered to be extremely versatile. Previous attempts to stop PRRSV infections through vaccination led to the emergence of new virus variants which incorporated parts of the vaccines into their genetic material, and thus became even more virulent. It also remains to be seen how the genetically engineered pigs will react to other pathogens or whether unwanted side effects will occur as a result of the genetic engineering processes.
Against the backdrop of the current discussions about NGT animals, Testbiotech recently published a report that also addresses the issue of patents.
Contact:
Christoph Then, info@testbiotech.org, Tel + 49 151 54638040
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