Gene-edited farm animals are coming. Will the public eat them?
Will regulation, safety concerns and public skepticism prevent these advances from becoming anything more than fascinating laboratory experiments, or will the animals transform the food supply?
CAROLYN Y. JOHNSON: ‘As scientists in labs across the world create virus-resistant pigs, heat-tolerant cattle and fatter, more muscular lambs, a big question looms: Will regulation, safety concerns and public skepticism prevent these advances from becoming anything more than fascinating laboratory experiments, or will the animals transform agriculture and the food supply? So far, gene-editing tools have jump-started research worldwide, creating more than 300 pigs, cattle, sheep and goats. Now, proponents of the field say the United States is at a make-or-break moment, when government action over the next year could determine whether any gene-edited food animals make it to market…
For farmers seeking to maximize beef production, all-male cattle could be a win: Males gain weight more efficiently than females. For scientists, successful births would add to a menagerie of gene-edited animals that demonstrate the power of the technology beyond the lab, where their use is mostly routine and uncontroversial… But the societal consensus about how or whether they should be used – and how to prove the technology is safe for animals and people who eat them – is even less clear…
In early 2017, the FDA put out draft guidance indicating that animals with intentionally altered DNA would be regulated just like the genetically modified animals have been – as containing veterinary drugs. Proponents and skeptics alike felt it wasn’t the right move. “We need to rethink this – look at the science, look at the potential risk, look at the products that are going to be developed. Is there a need for oversight, and what is the appropriate mechanism for that oversight?” said Greg Jaffe, biotechnology project director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest’. SOURCE…
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