HONG KONG: Bovine tuberculosis, a chronic and infectious disease that affects cattle, is a serious problem to farmers worldwide. The disease, in particular, is a top threat to the beef and dairy industry in the UK.
Addressing the disease involves controversial strategies, with the UK culling badgers to prevent the disease from being transmitted from wild animals to livestock.
A more feasible option for protecting the cattle from the disease may soon be available now that a group of researchers from China claims to have created genetically engineered cattle with more resistance to bovine TB.
The researchers came up with a process to insert a mouse gene dubbed SP110 into the genome of the Holstein-Friesian cattle. The gene has shown promise in controlling the bacterium known to cause bovine TB.
For their study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) on Mar. 2, Haibo Wu from the Ministry of Agriculture in China and colleagues genetically altered 23 calves, 13 of which managed to survive into adulthood, using TALEN, a gene editing tool that allowed them to remove naturally occurring genes and insert new ones.
Wu and colleagues said that in laboratory tests, the bovine TB-causing bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis multiplied at a lower rate among the genetically modified cattle compared with the animals that were not genetically altered.
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