Latest news with #PRRS
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
FDA Approves Gene-Hacked CRISPR Pigs for Human Consumption
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a type of CRISPR gene-edited pig for human consumption. As MIT Technology Review reports, only an extremely limited list of gene-modified animals are cleared by regulators to be eaten in the United States, including a transgenic salmon that has an extra gene to grow faster, and heat-tolerant beef cattle. And now a type of illness-resistant pig could soon join their ranks. British company Genus used the popular gene-editing technique CRISPR to make pigs immune to a virus that causes an illness called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). It's the same technology that's been used to gene-hack human babies — experiments that have proven far more controversial — and develop medicine in the form of gene therapies. The PRRS virus can easily spread in factory farms in the US and cause the inability to conceive, increase the number of stillborn pigs, and trigger respiratory complications, including pneumonia. It's been called the "most economically important disease" affecting pig producers, since it can have a devastating effect on their bottom lines. According to MIT Tech, it causes losses of more than $300 million a year in the US alone. Genus' gene-editing efforts have proven highly successful so far, with the pigs appearing immune to 99 percent of known versions of the virus. Using CRISPR, the company knocked out a receptor that allowed the PRRS virus to enter cells, effectively barring it from infecting its host. Beyond the respiratory illness, scientists are using gene-editing to make pigs less vulnerable or even immune to other infections, including swine fever. But before we can eat a pork chop from a gene-edited pig, Genus says that it will have to lock down regulatory approval in Mexico, Canada, Japan, and China as well, the United States' biggest export markets for pork, as MIT Tech reports. The company is hoping gene-edited pork could land in the US market as soon as next year. But whether you'll actually know if you're eating meat from a pig that had a virus receptor turned off using a cutting-edge DNA modification technique is unclear. "We aren't aware of any labelling requirement," Genus subsidiary Pig Improvement Company CEO Matt Culbertson told MIT Tech. More on CRISPR: Scientist Who Gene-Hacked Human Babies Says Ethics Are "Holding Back" Scientific Progress
Telegraph
06-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Founded in an Oxfordshire pub, this business leads the world in pig polishing
Questor is The Telegraph's stock-picking column, helping you decode the markets and offering insights on where to invest. Confusion still reigns as Donald Trump strikes a trade deal with Ukraine and offers further exemptions to his proposed package of reciprocal tariffs, but continues to posit income tax cuts funded by revenues generated from these very duties. The first two are helping to drive double-digit percentage rallies from early April's lows in headline US equity indices such as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq and healthy gains elsewhere, including the UK. Whether the bottom is in, or whether this is a classic short-covering, bear-market rally is hard to gauge because nobody knows what is coming next. Those investors who seek a haven from the volatility can perhaps seek out defensive sectors and companies, where demand is relatively insulated from the vagaries of the economic cycle, such as utilities. Portfolio holdings such as National Grid and SSE fit the bill here. Another approach is to look for firms where the business model has a distinct rhythm of its own, which brings us to animal genetics specialist Genus. The business has two main units – pig improvement company (PIC) and American breeders service (ABS) – which serve the porcine and bovine markets respectively, across the globe. Genus's analysis and expertise in genomics helps farmers to raise animals which grow faster and are more resistant to disease, to help meet the growing demand for protein while reducing resource needs and environmental impact. In the case of ABS, Genus can help dairy farmers increase the chance of cows giving birth to female calves suitable for dairy production or young more suited to beef production. At PIC, revenues are recognised either upfront, in the form of full fair value for the animal, or via royalties as piglets are weaned, while ABS sells straws of semen or embryos from elite genetic lines, as well as related technical services. PIC is the global leader in its field while ABS ranks second in the bovine arena. Besides this strong competitive position, there are three potential reasons for looking more closely at the Basingstoke-headquartered company. First, the share price chart goes from the top-left-hand corner of the screen to the bottom right for most of the past five years, something that always catches this column's eye. The shares are down by 70pc from their 2021 highs, largely thanks to the conclusion of pig herd restocking in China in the wake of a swine fever outbreak and a subsequent collapse in pork prices there. Second, the company's first-half results in January delivered what analysts described as the first positive upside surprise to earnings estimates for three years, suggesting the company had finally turned a corner. Finally, America's key regulator in this area, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is giving its approval to Genus's porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) pig resistant programme (PRP). Brazil had already given PRP and gene-edited pigs the nod, and other nations, such as Mexico, Canada and Japan, may now be inclined to do the same. Given the devastating effect the PRRS virus can have upon herds – and farmers' incomes owing to the antibiotics bills and premature death rates – demand could be strong, to the great benefit of Genus' sales and profits. FDA approval opens the way to commercialisation of PRP and analysts' forecasts are yet to really factor in the potential upside. As ever, there are risks. The US represents nearly 40pc of Genus's total sales, primarily from the PIC. As a result, Trump, trade and tariffs again hover into view. The good news is that Genus imports little and it has five sites in America, including a research and development team in Madison, Wisconsin. The danger comes from Genus exports from America, should other nations impose retaliatory tariffs, especially Mexico and Canada, so investors must keep a watching brief here. In addition, net debt has climbed in the past few years, thanks in part to new leases on farms in China, while the valuation does not look that tempting at first glance. In the case of the former, at least interest cover is still good, once a number of exceptional items are taken out of fiscal 2024's messy set of results. With regard to the latter, earnings are still relatively depressed, so that inflates the price-to-earnings multiple, and the rating could start to drop quickly if PRP delivers on its potential and profits growth gathers fresh momentum. Europe's outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease is another near-term complication, although a severe episode could eventually force farmers to restock in the manner of China at the turn of this decade, a process which gave Genus's profits and cash flows a lift. Questor says: Buy Ticker: GNS
Agriland
01-05-2025
- Health
- Agriland
Disease-resistant pigs approved for sale in US
Pigs produced to be resistant to one of the world's most costly livestock diseases, using technology developed by the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, have been approved for sale to US consumers. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of a gene-editing technology that makes pigs resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) on animals destinated for the US food supply chain. This landmark approval for animal genetics company Genus, following years of development, aims to tackle the challenge of a disease that is endemic to most pig-producing regions. The infection, which causes fever, respiratory distress, and premature births, costs industry approximately $2.5 billion (£1.75 billion) each year in lost revenue in the US and Europe alone. The approval follows years of collaboration with the FDA and is a significant step on the pathway to commercialisation of gene-edited pigs in the US and other international markets. Gene-edited pigs Researchers at the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute focused their efforts on the CD163 gene in pigs. This gene produces a receptor on the surface of cells, which the PRRS virus uses to cause infection. Experts removed a small section of this gene, focusing on the section of the receptor that the virus attaches to, leaving the rest of the molecule intact. Supported by Edinburgh Innovations (EI), the University of Edinburgh's commercialisation service, the team collaborated with Genus, which also licensed novel technologies from other institutions, to produce pigs with the specific DNA change. The resulting pigs do not become infected with the virus, and the animals show no signs that the change in their DNA has had any other impact on their health or wellbeing. Prof. Bruce Whitelaw of the Roslin Institute said: 'We are delighted to see the PRRS-resistant pig gene-edit approved for use – this is a milestone in the use of gene editing in livestock, and a landmark moment for the livestock industry towards managing a global disease that causes devastating losses.' CEO of Genus, Jorgen Kokke added: 'FDA approval is a fantastic achievement for Genus PIC and represents a major step towards US commercialisation. 'We will now continue to pursue regulatory approvals in other international jurisdictions with a focus on key US export markets.' EI's head of business development at the University of Edinburgh's College of Medicine and Vet Medicine, Dr. Susan Bodie added: 'This is a very exciting development in translating cutting edge research into a major solution for the food production industry. 'Gene editing – making targeted changes to DNA in a lab – allows scientists to rapidly introduce beneficial traits in plants and animals, which can take decades to achieve through traditional breeding programmes. 'EI is proud to support Roslin Institute researchers to work with industry on pioneering world-changing animal bioscience like this.'
Reuters
30-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UK's Genus secures FDA approval for PRP gene edit; shares soar
April 30 (Reuters) - British animal genetics company Genus (GNS.L), opens new tab on Wednesday said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its PRP gene edit under its PRRS Resistant Pig ("PRP") programme for use in the U.S. food supply chain. The gene edit is designed to provide pigs resistance to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), a disease affecting swine globally, whose symptoms include fever, respiratory distress, premature births. here. PRRS caused an estimated $1.2 billion per year in lost production in the U.S. pork industry from 2016 to 2020, an 80% increase from a decade earlier, according to an analysis published in 2024 by an Iowa State University expert. In its capital market update in November 2023, Genus had said that its PRP is resistant to prevalent PRRS strains. Genus' shares rose as much as 30% to a near six-month high, and were on track for their biggest one-day gain since December 2008. PRP won't really start affecting Genus' income statement until fiscal year 2027, but it could supercharge growth from then on, said Seb Jantet, research analyst at Panmure Liberum. As the U.S. is a net exporter of pork, the main issue for Genus is reciprocal tariffs which could reduce the ability of U.S. producers to export pork to Japan, Canada and Mexico, the brokerage said in the note. However, the company will "most likely be fine" as these countries are likely to turn to Brazil for supply, where it has a bigger market share than in the U.S., Panmure Liberum said. The company said the approval was a significant step towards PRP commercialisation in the U.S and added that it continues to make progress to secure approvals from regulators in Mexico, Canada, Japan and China.
