The Superpowers of Genetically Modified Pigs

Several years ago, at a lab near a massive experimental farm in Guangdong Province in China, scientists prepped a whopping 4,008 genetically modified pig embryos for implantation into just 16 sows. It's a numbers game these livestock engineers are familiar with; knowing that many embryos will n...

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Veröffentlicht in:The Scientist 2018-08, Vol.32 (8)
1. Verfasser: Grens, Kerry
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Several years ago, at a lab near a massive experimental farm in Guangdong Province in China, scientists prepped a whopping 4,008 genetically modified pig embryos for implantation into just 16 sows. It's a numbers game these livestock engineers are familiar with; knowing that many embryos will not survive the procedure--and those that do may not make it through gestation or life beyond the womb--the researchers overproduce embryos and hope for the best. For this project, Jinzeng Yang's colleagues were trying something scientifically ambitious: introducing genes for three microbial enzymes into the pigs' genomes that were intended to help the animals metabolize their feed more efficiently, while producing less nitrogen and phosphorus waste.
ISSN:0890-3670
1547-0806