Update on gene-editing in cattle at "A Steak in Genomics"

Over at A Steak in Genomics:

Alison Van Eenennaam
UC-Davis

United States beef cattle inventory has decreased since the 1970s. However, over that same time period, we have produced more beef. This means we are more efficiently producing more beef per cow. This is very different compared to other countries such as Brazil and India.

We have seen inflection points in the genetic progress of beef production as various technologies have been adopted? Will gene editing be that next inflection point?

Gene editing technologies are simply scissors that cut DNA. There are various types, such as Zinc Finger Nucleases, TALENS, and CRISPR/Cas9. CRISPR has become very popular recently because it uses a guide RNA to make the cut at a specific location. CRISPR can make site-specific variants (mutations) as the cell repairs the double stranded breaks. CRISPR can also be used to insert new sequence from a different animal, species, or kingdom.

There are 13 papers that describe edits for 12 different traits in cattle.

Gene editing for disease resistance is a win-win for cattle sustainability. We produce animals that have better welfare and need to use fewer antibiotics and treatments.

The Polled allele frequency is 0.0071 in Holstein dairy cattle. If used exclusively, polled sires would increase inbreeding and slow genetic gain....