Genus is continuing its collaboration with
the Roslin Institute of the United Kingdom to produce pigs that are resistant
to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrom (PRRS)..
Researchers and the company hope the
licensing agreement will lead the way to gene-edited, disease-resistant pigs
being available to global pork-producing markets.
With the signing of the agreement,
facilitated by Edinburgh Innovations, the University’s commercialisation
service, Genus will continue planned work for testing multiple generations of
pigs and conducting studies required for approval by the United States Food and
Drug Administration (FDA)
Vaccines have mostly failed to stop the
spread of the virus that causes PRRS, which is in the hog populations of most
pig-producing countries worldwide.
The Roslin Institute has produced pigs
that can resist the disease by editing their genetic code. The research
received funding from Genus and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council.
