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Copper news based on Nature materials: Gene-edited 'micropigs' to be sold as pets at Chinese instituteGenome editing technologies have led to the emergence of an unexpected by–product - tiny pigs, which the Chinese Institute of Genomic Research is going to sell as pets.

The Institute in Shenzhen is known for research in the field of genome sequencing and editing. Micro-pigs were raised there as an animal model for the study of human diseases. Micro pigs represent "edited" Bam pigs. In adulthood, they weigh about 15 kg and resemble an average dog in size.

The Institute of Genomics so far assumes that the price of each pig will be 10 thousand yuan (about $ 1600), but this is a preliminary estimate, and by the time sales begin, the price may change. In the future, it is planned to use genome editing in order to achieve the desired colors and patterns on the skin of pigs.

The original Bam pigs are also smaller than the usual ones (they weigh 35-50 kg against more than 100 kg in pigs on farms).

Pigs are often used in research because they are genetically and physiologically closer to humans than mice and rats. At the same time, small Bama are better suited due to the fact that they are cheaper to contain and the dosages of expensive experimental drugs are lower for them. For genetic studies, Bam had one of the two copies of the growth hormone receptor gene turned off with the help of TALEN enzymes, so they did not grow to their normal size. Further, micro-pigs were bred by crossing "edited" males with ordinary females. Only half of the pigs conceived naturally were born as micro pigs, but this procedure allows you not to clone pigs, which makes them healthier (so far, no side effects have been detected).

The profit from the sale of pigs will be invested in further research.

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01.10.2015