A major hurdle has been crossed to bring genetically-edited pigs to market. In April, the United States Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to marketing PRRS-resistant pigs in the United States. Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and Dominican Republic followed suit.
Health Canada will make the decision here. The research is said to be in Health Canada’s hands. Alberta and Saskatchewan are credited with being diligent and having eliminated PRRS. Manitoba has struggled, facing heavy economic losses despite ongoing control efforts.
At the forefront of the gene removal is a company named Pig Improvement Company (PIC). A company representative, Lindsay Case, spoke at the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium in Saskatoon on Nov. 5.
FDA approval was a huge milestone, she said.
“It’s very important that before we can responsibly bring the product to market, we need to make sure that a minimum number of trade partners have also approved that pork for domestic consumption to economically introduce it to the industry in a viable way,” she said.
While the United States is ahead of the curve in terms of approval, another PIC spokesperson said there would not be commercialization in the U.S. until Canada, Mexico and Japan are on board.
“In Canada and other countries, we are working with regulatory agencies to show that the PRRS-resistant pigs and resulting pork products are no different than any other pigs and pork, except for their resistance to the PRRS virus,” Marisa Pooley. PIC’s director of communications, told the Manitoba Co-operator.
The FDA approved that gene-editing works by modifying a specific gene (CD163) in pigs that the PRRS virus typically exploits to enter cells.
By disabling the virus’s entry point without affecting the animal’s overall health or development, these gene-edited pigs are able to naturally resist infection.
Full herd protection via boar introduction and geno-typing could take about five years. Research is being done to accelerate adoption and maximize welfare, sustainability, and efficiency, Case said.
“If Canadian swine herds were not affected by the PRRS virus, the industry’s efficiency would increase by 15 per cent. So the same number of sows could produce 15 per cent more pork, again, by eliminating that disease challenge and creating a more healthy, resilient pig from birth to market, those sows as well,” she said.
In addition, it reduces antibiotic use by up to 380 per cent in weaned pigs, she added. Eliminating PRRS reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to nine per cent in the Canadian swine herd (International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certified, and peer reviewed).
Of utmost importance is “to show that no foreign DNA was introduced, and therefore, the pork products are no different than conventional pork products.”
In other words, it’s non-GMO, and there isn’t mandatory labelling.
“There are no unintended changes other than the inability of the pig to get sick with a PRRS virus. So, the global landscape is continuing to evolve.”
She said consumer research has been at the forefront of the PIC’s work.
“Our approach to consumer research has been really trying to understand what motivates consumers to put pork in their shopping carts and how the PRRS-resistant pig can be messaged to talk to those motivators.
After the benefits are explained, she said 80 per cent of U.S. consumers would buy gene-edited pork.
“We’ve done four rounds of consumer research in the U.S., and we’re doing a round in five other countries, including Canada, Japan and Mexico.
“By doing the repeated rounds of consumer research, we are learning how to best message with consumers as it relates to a PRRS-resistant pig and a more resilient pork chain.” •
— By Cam Hutchinson