The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of gene-edited technology that results in a pig resistant to the costly porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). The FDA announced this approval on April 30 determining the gene edit safe and effective for use in commercial livestock in the U.S.

PRRS is a disease first discovered in pigs in the 1980s and is a major threat to the pork industry. Estimates from an Iowa State University study in 2024 put the cost of the disease at $1.2 billion per year to the pork industry.

The approval of the gene edit for pigs marks an important milestone; approval of a gene-edit that specifically prevents a virus that causes widespread disease and suffering, reducing the reliance on treatment, including antibiotics.

The use of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology in the development of the PRRS-resistant pig allows for precise changes in the DNA of the genome and can be as targeted as a single base pair change. This is not introducing new genetics, a clear differentiation from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but allowing for the “switching off” of the expression of the targeted gene. The FDA also updated the “Intentional Genomic Alterations (IGAs) in Animals” webpage on April 30, detailing the ever-changing front of these technologies in food production.

Cattle have not been left behind with gene-edited research, as the first gene-edited proof of concept study to create an animal resistant to bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) was announced in 2023. Additionally, heat resistance and replicating the naturally occurring gene mutation of the prolactin receptor (PRLR) slick gene have been researched in the last decade.

What scenarios could gene-editing technology, paired with advancing genetic tools already in place, provide for the future of the dairy industry? The opportunities are exciting, especially as they relate to reducing animal diseases and suffering, and lowering reliance on treatment in food animal production.

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