Disease-resistant GM  piglet created in lab

Disease-resistant GM  piglet created in lab
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London (PTI): Scientists from the laboratory which created Dolly the cloned sheep have now produced a disease-resistant piglet using a new technique...

dieLondon (PTI): Scientists from the laboratory which created Dolly the cloned sheep have now produced a disease-resistant piglet using a new technique which is simpler than cloning, paving way for genetically modified meat. The piglet called "Pig 26" is the first animal to be created via "gene editing". It was born four months ago at Edinburgh's Roslin Institute, where Dolly the cloned sheep was created in 1996. The new technique, which is faster and more efficient than existing methods, can alleviate major concerns of anti-GM campaigners because it does not involve the use of antibiotic-resistance genes, The Telegraph reported. Scientists hope it could make genetic engineering of livestock more acceptable to the public and be key to the challenge of feeding the growing global population. "Gene-editing" is a simple and precise process whereby researchers snipped the animal's DNA and inserted new genetic material, in effect changing a single one of the three billion "letters" that make up its genome. It has a success rate of ten to 15 per cent, compared with less than one per cent for existing methods, and can be performed on a fertilised egg without the need for complicated cloning techniques.
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