What Does the Future Look Like for Genetically Engineered Pigs?
How will genetically engineered pigs shape the future? Randy Prather, Curator’s Distinguished Professor in the University of Missouri’s Division of Animal Sciences and the director of the University of Missouri National Swine Resource and Research Center, will share his perspective during Kansas State University’s Swine Profitability conference on Feb. 7.
Prather's research includes early embryo development in pigs. He is credited with creating the first transgenic pigs by nuclear transfer and the first gene-targeted pigs that have been used for understanding human disease and improving agricultural productivity.
“The first genetically modified pigs we made were called ‘green pigs,’” Prather said in a K-State release. “If you’ve been to an aquarium and seen jellyfish, you notice that they fluoresce under UV light. We put that same gene into pigs so people can use these cells for tracking studies.”
One example is retinal damage in a human eye. In a pig, researchers can repair the damage with stem cells, then turn on UV light and use the fluorescence to know if it’s the stem cells that are responsible for the repairs, he explained.
In January 2022, Maryland surgeons successfully transplanted a pig heart into a human patient for the first time ever.
“The genetic modification to make that transplant possible was first developed here at Missouri,” Prather said in the release.
Transplanting animal organs or tissues in human recipients – a process called xenotransplantation – has the potential to transform human medicine, particularly for the more than 100,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list. It also has application in agriculture, and specifically the swine industry, too.
Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) is a viral disease that affects domestic pigs. Symptoms include reproductive failure, pneumonia and increased susceptibility to secondary bacterial infections. In the U.S., PRRS causes approximately $660 million in losses for swine producers; combined with losses in Europe, scientists estimate losses due to PRRS at $6 million each day.
Treatments using genetically engineering are not currently allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Prather hopes that will change soon, he said in the release.
“It’s an animal welfare issue,” Prather explained. “We have animals that are getting sick and dying that don’t need to. We have a solution. As farmers, we can’t afford to have inputs, food, fuel, labor going into animals that are going to underperform or die.”
Prather will discuss this and more at 11:15 a.m. on Feb. 7 in the Stanley Stout Center at K-State. The Swine Profitability Conference focuses on providing information to improve knowledge for pork producer business decisions, K-State said in a release. The full agenda and registration for this year’s Swine Profitability Conference is available online.