Pig Improvement Company (PIC) said it believes it will be ready and cleared to sell PRRS-resistant pigs to farmers in the United States by 2026.
But sales to Canadians remain in question because these pigs have been genetically altered by gene editing.
The gene that has been eliminated is responsible for production of a protein which PRRS virus attaches to and begins to multiply. With nothing to attach to, pigs are not infected.
Currently in Canada, gene-edited plants don’t require additional safety checks if the final plant product doesn’t contain foreign DNA. Similarly, gene editing can’t introduce or increase a known allergen or toxin of key nutritional composition, and it can’t change the food use of the plant.
Stuart Smyth of the University of Saskatchewan said the science that led regulators to that decision could also be applied to animals. Smyth is a specialist in biotechnology regulation.
“As long as what’s being put forward doesn’t have any difference in risk profile, it would be difficult to imagine why you would need to have a different regulatory system,” Smyth said.
