Gene Editing Breakthrough: Pigs Made Resistant to Devastating Swine Fever Virus
Roslin, UK - Scientists have successfully engineered pigs with resistance to classical swine fever, a highly contagious and often fatal disease that poses a significant threat to global pig farming. The breakthrough, achieved by researchers at the Roslin Institute, utilizes gene editing to modify a gene critical for the virus’s replication, offering a potential solution to a disease that causes ample economic losses and animal suffering.
classical swine fever has no cure and can devastate entire herds, leading to widespread culling and trade restrictions. The team’s research, published in Trends in Biotechnology, identified a key gene involved in the virus’s ability to infect cells.By editing this gene in pigs,thay were able to confer resistance,mirroring success seen in similar work with pestiviruses affecting cattle and sheep. The advance arrives as regulations surrounding gene editing in agriculture are evolving worldwide, with the UK’s precision Breeding Act recently paving the way for gene-edited crops and countries like the US, Japan, and Brazil already approving gene-edited livestock.
The research builds on previous work at Roslin, where the company Genus has already developed pigs resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. These pigs have been approved for sale in the US and are anticipated to reach the market in 2026.
“In my mind there is a moral imperative that if we can make animals that are disease resistant then we probably should do,” said dr. Simon Lillico, research scientist at the Roslin Institute and a co-author of the study.
Dr. Emily Clark, of EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute, who was not involved in the research, highlighted the significance of the findings. ”Decades of genomic research have made it possible to pinpoint and precisely edit the genes involved in disease resistance. Research like this is helping to create healthier animals, reduce losses for farmers in areas affected by swine fever, and marks a major step forward in using genomics-enabled innovation to build resilience to disease in livestock populations.”
The team is now investigating whether the same gene edit provides resistance to pestiviruses affecting cattle and sheep, wich, while less severe, remain prevalent in the UK.
