Scientists Created 'Low fat' pigs with CRISPR

-
Around 20 million years ago, for unknown reasons, wild pigs lost an important metabolic gene known as uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). In most mammals this gene plays a major role in generating body heat for thermoregulation, and lack of UCP1 has led to some unusual physiological traits in all modern domestic and wild pig species (1). Unlike most mammals, pigs generate heat in response to cold temperatures primarily by shivering, instead of by increasing metabolic rate. In fact, pigs seem to entirely lack brown adipose tissue, the type of fat specialized in thermoregulation. As a consequence, piglets are exceptionally susceptible to cold-related death, and adult pigs tend to accumulate excess fat as a result of their unusual metabolic traits. From an agricultural perspective, there are significant economic costs due to neonatal mortality, heating animal barns, and feed costs associated with excess fat production. Piglet death also represents an obvious animal welfare issue.

A team of scientists in Beijing have addressed these issues by using a CRISPR/Cas9-based approach (2). They generated knockin pigs carrying the mouse UCP1 gene under the control of an adipose-specific promoter, which resulted in functional UCP1 activity in white adipose tissue. The genetically-modified pigs have measurably better thermoregulation and significantly lower body fat. These pigs can now regulate their body temperature by burning fat, like most mammals, leading to smaller fat deposits than in normal pigs. Agricultural experts and scientists expect that correcting pig UCP1 deficiency will save pig farmers millions of dollars and also significantly increase animal welfare.

References

  1. Berg F, Gustafson U, Andersson L. The uncoupling protein 1 gene (UCP1) is disrupted in the pig lineage: a genetic explanation for poor thermoregulation in piglets. PLoS Genet. 2006 Aug 18;2(8):e129.
  2. Zheng Q, Lin J, Huang J, et al. Reconstitution of UCP1 using CRISPR/Cas9 in the white adipose tissue of pigs decreases fat deposition and improves thermogenic capacity. PNAS 2017 ; epub ahead of print October 23, 2017
Original  Source: Cyagen Biosciences

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cells driving gecko's ability to re-grow its tail identified

-
Image
A U of G researcher is the first to discover the type of stem cell that is behind the gecko's ability to re-grow its tail, a finding that has implications for spinal cord treatment in humans. Many lizards can detach a portion of their tail to avoid a predator and then regenerate a new one. Unlike mammals, the lizard tail includes a spinal cord. Prof. Matthew Vickaryous found that the spinal cord of the tail contained a large number of stem cells and proteins known to support stem cell growth. "We knew the gecko's spinal cord could regenerate, but we didn't know which cells were playing a key role," said Vickaryous, lead author of the study recently published in the  Journal of Comparative Neurology . "Humans are notoriously bad at dealing with spinal cord injuries so I'm hoping we can use what we learn from geckos to coax human spinal cord injuries into repairing themselves." Geckos are able to re-grow a new tail within 30 days -- faste
Read more

Knockout by CRISPR vs Knockdown by shRNA

-
In solving the mystery of gene function, there is no more important clue than the phenotype of inactivating the gene of interest. With a plethora of methods available, researchers must first determine what approach is best for their specific scientific questions and experimental systems. For over a decade, RNA-interference-based methods of gene knockdown (i.e. RNAi & shRNA) have provided a wealth of insight into gene function, but in recent years the advent of CRISPR- and TALEN-based methods now allow genome editing to be used to quickly and efficiently test the effect of gene knockouts. Here, we review the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches, and describe some experimental situations in which one approach is better than another, focusing primarily on CRISPR/Cas9 and shRNA. For a discussion of the relative advantages of CRISPR/Cas9 versus TALEN , see our prior Newsletter on this topic. CRISPR Knockout In this method, a guide RNA (gRNA) homologous to an 18-22nt ta
Read more

Beyond ACE2: Additional Targets of Significance for Coronavirus Research

-
At present, the prevention and treatment of coronavirus is the most urgent issue for scientific and medical research. In addition to the ACE2 host receptor target that is being highly focused on, what other targets deserve the attention of current coronavirus researchers? Herein, experts from Cyagen investigate the lesser-known targets that are pertinent to coronavirus research, aiming to provide some helpful references to guide scientific researchers. 1. DPP4 Dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP4) belongs to the family of proline-specific serine proteases and is capable of cleaving dipeptides from the amino terminal (N-terminal). DPP4 is the most typical peptidase in this family, and it is also the third exo-peptidase that was found to be a coronavirus receptor (after ACE2 and APN). DPP4 is a multifunctional type II transmembrane glycoprotein with 766 amino acids; it exists as a homodimer on the cell surface. The dimerization of peptidase depends on the molecules’ connection between the
Read more