Chinese Scientists Create Genetically Modified Low-Fat Pigs

Here's something that may sound like a contradiction in terms: low-fat pigs.

But that's exactly what Chinese scientists have created using new genetic engineering techniques.

In a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists report that they have created 12 healthy pigs with about 24 percent less body fat than normal pigs.

The scientists created low-fat pigs in the hopes of providing pig farmers with animals that would be less expensive to raise and would suffer less in cold weather.

"This is a big issue for the pig industry," says Jianguo Zhao of the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, who led the research. "It's pretty exciting.

The animals have less body fat because they have a gene that allows them to regulate their body temperatures better by burning fat. That could save farmers millions of dollars in heating and feeding costs, as well as prevent millions of piglets from suffering and dying in cold weather.

More here:  http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/10/23/559060166/crispr-bacon-chinese-scientists-create-genetically-modified-low-fat-pigs

Technology, science can be a wonderful thing ... but with it comes concerns.

There will be those fore and those against, there always is.

""This is a paper that is technologically quite important," says R. Michael Roberts, a professor in the department of animal sciences at the University of Missouri, who edited the paper for the scientific journal. "It demonstrates a way that you can improve the welfare of animals at the same as also improving the product from those animals — the meat."

But Roberts doubts the Food and Drug Administration would approve a genetically modified pig for sale in the United States. He's also skeptical that Americans would eat GMO pig meat.

"I very much doubt that this particular pig will ever be imported into the USA — one thing — and secondly, whether it would ever be allowed to enter the food chain," he says.

The FDA has approved a genetically modified salmon, but the approval took decades and has been met with intense opposition from environmental and food-safety groups.

Others say they hope genetically modified livestock will eventually become more acceptable to regulators and the public."

I'm sure there will be discussions/debates about it, and many wouldn't touch it/eat it...

All the best Jan

They've already used normal non-GMO techniques to severely reduce the fat content of some modern breeds. One reason my favourite Gloucester Old Spot sausages are so tasty is that they are definitely NOT low fat pigs. Likewise the bacon, depending on source some of the free range pigs are also old breeds, though I wonder what imported crap they are fed